


When Wings melt the Frozen Heart

by PotatoPasta



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Absent Parents, Angel Family, Angel Wings, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Childhood Friends, Domestic Violence, Drinking, F/M, Family, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Family Issues, Healing, Parent-Child Relationship, angel - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-07-16 05:23:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16079318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotatoPasta/pseuds/PotatoPasta
Summary: A solitary man Ludwig has been living his whole life alone since the event when he was young. Never in his life, Ludwig allowed anyone around him to melt his heart. However, everything changes when a beautiful angel name Feliciana crashes into Ludwig's balcony. GerIta / Germany x Fem!Italy / Angel AU





	1. Chapter 1

Kapitel 1.

 

Dibble dibble dopp dopp— SPLATT—!

The rain was especially heavy that night. Thunder was making exasperating noise in the sky, lightning was exasperating through the clouds, and raindrops were dotting all the windows and making shallow ponds and streams that completely soaked people’s feet. Wherever was the suitest, everyone on the streets was running into nearest indoors such as cafes, restaurants, convenient stores or even parking lots. Among everyone, Ludwig was the only person who wasn’t in a hurry. While walking to his apartment, Ludwig drew on his cigarette, holding a giant black umbrella with his dominant hand.

A chain of smoke came out of Ludwig's mouth. _Verdammt, it’s been rough for a while. I’m finally going home now._ Ludwig thought about calling a prostitute for his recreation but concluded that he was too exhausted for it. Last couple of days, Ludwig was too occupied enough to stay in office and work for the essential project. With the help of his colleague Kiku Honda, Ludwig could finish the project within few days, which would’ve taken him a week by himself. Ludwig insisted Kiku to go home and get some rest, but Kiku also insisted that he’d stay and help as long as Ludwig was staying.  

_Thank Gott, tomorrow is saturday._ Ludwig drew on a final breath and threw the cigarette away before folding his umbrella and pushing in the revolving entrance door of his apartment. The doorman greeted and Ludwig nodded. No other words were needed between them. Actually, though Ludwig had been living in his apartment for more than six years, all he knew about the doorman was his name from his name tag. Ludwig checked his mailbox to make sure he didn’t miss anything then walked briskly. Among the four elevators, first one was out of order, second one was coming down, third one was already on the ninth floor, and fourth one was about to close. Inside, there was a woman with long brown hair. 

“Excuse me, _Fräulein_ ?” Ludwig called her to ask her to stop the elevator. When the woman turned around Ludwig dropped his umbrella. _Mein Gott…_ The woman apologetically smiled to Ludwig, when the doors were closing. Ludwig couldn’t believe his eyes. It was _her_ . He thought he couldn’t even remember how she looked like, but he did; Ludwig realized that he remembered her every little features. The elevator’s doors closed and it moved to upstairs. Ludwig tried to calm himself down and bent to grab his umbrella. _Nein… it couldn’t have been her. It’s impossible. I must be very tired._ Ludwig thought to himself. Then he waited for the second elevator and walked in. 

Ludwig’s chain of thought interrupted when he glanced at his phone inside his coat pocket to see what time it was. Instead, Ludwig saw several text messages from his brother. 

_West! We DEFINITELY need some bro times! It’s been 4ever since the last time we’ve met! xD_  

_Franny n Toni r comin 2! They wanted 2 c u as well! ;)_  

_Which days work 4 u?_

_What time?? o_O_  

_Lizzie says hi and asks if ur doing alright!! She’s the AWESOMEST fiancée ever!!! xD_

_ANSWER ME WEST!!!!_

As soon as he finished reading the messages, Ludwig hit the delete button. He couldn’t understand why Gilbert was so persistent.

The elevator opened with a ding sound. Ludwig tiredly strided into his apartment and opened the door with his key. Ludwig practically threw his umbrella and his coat into the umbrella stand and the coat hanger. He couldn’t help but sighed as he walked into the bathroom. Ludwig just wanted to get some sleep. He mindlessly took his clothes off and walked into the bathtub.

Icy cold water splashed into Ludwig’s body. Despite the coldness, Ludwig didn’t even flinch a finger. It had been almost twenty years since Ludwig only used cold water whenever he took a shower. Even though Ludwig didn’t care, he had wondered few times why the coldness didn’t affect him. Ludwig lost the interest for the question long time ago, but something inside him made him to wonder about it again. Ludwig just rolled his hands into fists. 

* * * 

Ludwig put the clothes and the towel he used to dry himself into the laundry machine. Ludwig’s stern routine of getting things done always ordered him to get things done although his body craved for some rest. _I guess old habit dies hard._ Ludwig thought when he turned the laundry machine on. _Ja… but at least I can finally get some sleep now…_ Ludwig double-thanked that tomorrow is saturday and closed his eyes.  

CRASH—!

The noise of something crashing furiously made Ludwig to jerk out of his bed. “What in the!” Ludwig groaned and trudged to the location of the noise. It was his balcony. His heart rabidly beat from anger, annoyance, and twinge of horror to find out what caused the noise. It was dark, everything Ludwig could see behind the curtains and the glass door there was an unclear silhouette. He didn’t turn the light on purpose since he felt he needed to ambush it if it was a live creature. 

When Ludwig closed the his distance from the glass door into few feet, he could see and hear something’s silhouette and whine. “Ve… that really hurt…” Ludwig silently moved the curtain and viciously opened the door to attack the infiltrator. 

“Waah~! Please don’t hurt me! I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I really didn’t mean to crash!” The silhouette begged.

The silhouette’s identity was something—  rather _someone_ Ludwig did not expect to see. It was a little girl with two loosely braided auburn hair and amber eyes —she was quite beautiful Ludwig gave her that— who looked around early twenties sprawled on his balcony. She was wearing a white dress which looked some kind of toga that was completely soaked by the pouring rain. Too many questions to ask flew around in Ludwig’s head: he wondered why the girl was sprawling on his balcony or wearing a toga or how was she able to get into his balcony. However, the first thing Ludwig had to ask was—

“Are those wings on your back?!” Ludwig exclaimed. This was the second time that his eyes trying to deceive their owner. There were white feathery wings on the girl’s back. They were about her arm’s length. For a second, Ludwig seriously contemplated about whether he definitely should go see an ophthalmologist or not. Ludwig lividly rubbed his eyes. But when he opened his eyes again, the wings were still there. 

The girl brightly answered. “Ve? Yes, they are! So pretty, don’t you think?” The wings on the girl’s back waved as if they were greeting. Ludwig was speechless; he had _no idea_ what he needed to say or how he could fix this.

The girl was clearly oblivious to the situation. She just beamed at Ludwig. “Hello! My name is Feliciana! Ve~ but you can call me Feli like everyone does! I’m an angel from Heaven!” Feliciana carefreely introduced herself as if that explained this whole situation. 

If Ludwig were to say his  perspective on the world didn’t change by witnessing an angel he’d be lying. However, even though Ludwig himself was amazed by how much he decided that he didn’t care. Like he’d seen an angel before in his life; it felt like déjà vu. “That’s none of my business. You can’t stay here. Just fly away to wherever you’re from.” Ludwig grasped the handle to close the glass door. 

“Nooo!” Feliciana also grasped the glass door, stopping Ludwig. “I—I don’t have anywhere else to go! I even can’t fly!”

“What are you talking about. You have your wings!” Ludwig ranted. 

“I don’t think I can fly anymore! At least not for a while! I tried to fly but my wings didn’t let me fly and so I kept trying but I just couldn’t! I don’t know why!” Feliciana whimpered.

_Verdammt…_ Ludwig palmed his face. He sensed a headache was about to start.

Feliciana folded her hands. “Please, kind sir? Ve… Could I please stay in your house? At least until I know how to fix my wings? Please…?” Feliciana was still on the ground, kneeling. The harsh rain pouring directly on her made her look even more sympathetic. Ludwig was slightly moved, but he pursued his decision. However, when Ludwig’s eyes met Feliciana’s doe-like eyes about to burst tears, he unconsciously nodded.

“Ve~! Thank you so much! I don’t know what I could’ve done without you!” Feliciana jumped and wrapped her arms around Ludwig. He’s face got very red. Ludwig tried to peel her off but he felt something. Something that couldn’t be defined or understood.

For some reason, Ludwig wanted Feliciana to stay that way. It felt… familiar. He thought she was giving something he had lost many years ago. Something ineffable. However, when Ludwig realized he’s getting wet from Feliciana's completely soaked clothes, he cleared out his throat. “Ummm… could you let me go? You’re wet and I don’t want my clothes to get wet.”

“Oops, sorry.” Feliciana giggled and unwrapped her arms. “Oh! By the way, what’s your name, kind sir?”

It happened again. When Ludwig’s eyes met hers “ _Ich heiße_ Ludwig Beilschmidt.” Ludwig groaned to himself.   _Scheiße (Shit)! I said that in German! And why the fuck did I tell her my last name?_

“Okay, Ludwig~ Nice to meet you!” Feliciana chirped and wrapped her arms around Ludwig.

It caught Ludwig’s guard off. “ _Du sprichst Deutsch (You speak German)_?” Ludwig asked before his brain could process that he was speaking German again.

“ _Natürlich, kann ich das (Of course, I can)_!” Feliciana proudly replied. Even Ludwig had always agreed that the German language sounded harsh and stern compared to most of other languages but Feliciana made it sound so bright and bubbly. “I can speak all the languages in the world! Ve~ I’m an angel, remember? By the way, my family and my favorite language is _Italiano_! _Sembra così bello (It sounds so beautiful)_! But German is one of my favorites too! Though my big sister doesn’t like it for some reason.”

Ludwig just shook his head. Half an hour ago he was _voracious_ for some sleep but look what happened.  

“Ow!” Feliciana knelt down. She tried to get up but she couldn’t. 

“Are you alright? Can you stand up?” 

“No… I don’t think I can get up.” Ludwig saw Feliciana had dark bruises on her knees. Ludwig thought Feliciana’s knee got worse when she clung on to him. Ludwig sighed. _I don’t think I see any other way._

“Whoa!” Feliciana gasped and floundered, but eventually wrapped her arms around Ludwig’s neck.

“Huh…?” Ludwig stunned: Feliciana was unbelievably light. He felt like he just lifted a pillow. Ludwig just assumed Feliciana’s lightness had something to do with her being an angel. He simply ignored it and took her to his bathroom. On his way Ludwig glanced behind him. Water was all over the floor tracing Ludwig’s footstep. Thankfully, the rug was fine. _I suppose I should say goodbye to sleep._ At this point, Ludwig’s sleepiness had evaporated entirely. Now he was seriously glad tomorrow— _today_ was saturday.

Ludwig opened the bathroom door and gently put Feliciana down into his bathtub. “Here, just take a shower.” Feliciana blinked. “Ve… okay.”

As soon as he closed the bathroom door, Ludwig went to wipe the water on his floor. The cleaning itself wasn’t time consuming. Ludwig single handedly grabbed a dried mop and wiped the floor meticulously. He didn’t even leave a drop when he was done. Then Ludwig took the mop to his laundry room and put his wet clothes in the his laundry machine, while cleaning and drying the mop. It would normally take about twenty minute for the whole process but Ludwig was master of cleaning… among _other things._  

Ludwig went back to his bedroom and took out a new clothes to wear. While Ludwig put his clothes on, it occurred to him. _Do I have any clothes that Feli could wear?_ Ludwig decided he could lend one of his shirts to Feliciana; he thought about lending a pair of shorts as well, but there was no way her waist could fit into Ludwig’s pants. He put the shirts in front of his bathroom door and grabbed a pillow and a bedsheet for Feliciana. She could sleep in the couch.

“Ve~ I’m done!” When Ludwig was starting to think Feliciana took forever in her shower she finally came out of the bathroom. With _zero_ clothes.

“What are you doing, Feli! Where are your clothes! I even put them in front of the door!” Ludwig’s face got _very_ red. He immediately turned his face away from her and shut his eyes, but he already had seen _everything_.

Feliciana started to whine. “But human’s clothes are uncomfortable! Ve~ I don’t wanna wear it!”

“Well, if you’re going to stay in my house, _my rules_ are the law.”

“Ve… okay.” Feliciana slouched away to the bathroom. Ludwig could hear her reluctantly putting his shirt on. It wasn’t the first time Ludwig had seen a naked body. In fact, he didn’t as much as his brother, but Ludwig had seen many as much as he was used to it. However, he had to fight the strong urge to peek.

“Now I’m going to bed. You can sleep on that couch. I brought a pillow and a blanket you can use. Now _Gute Nacht (Goodnight)_.”

Feliciana beamed. “Ve~ thank you, Luddy!” Before Ludwig could realize the new nickname she used, Feliciana pecked his cheeks and slid into the bed sheet on the couch.“Goodnight~.”

Ludwig was sure something twirled inside him.

* * *

**(A/N)**

**Hello again!**

**So… this story was actually supposed to be posted after the story I mentioned at the epilogue of** **_The Appointment_ ** **but whatever LOL I can always write that after I finish this. Plus, I’ve alway wanted to write an angel AU ;)**

**Phew… since English isn’t my first language it worries me whether I’m using the grammars and vocabularies right Dx Please allow me to ask you don’t hesitate to correct me! They always help! :D**  

**Please Follow, Favorite, and Review if you liked the story! >_< Even a word is just fine! Whenever I see reviews I feel like they mean the ** **_WORLD_ ** **to me :)**

 


	2. Chapter 2

Kapitel 2.

 

The sunlight shined on Ludwig through the glimpse of the bedroom curtains. Ludwig slowly opened his eyes. It felt very comfortable waking up without an alarm. Ludwig would have gotten up for his morning jog, but he decided to sleep a little longer. After all, he was exhausted from the project that practically jailed him in his office. At least the benefit of the project was captivating: a generous bonus for this month's salary and a possible promotion. 

Judging by the lightness of the sunlight, it seemed around eleven o'clock. Ludwig always had woken up at seven o’clock sharp. He was well aware that even though he didn’t use an alarm clock, waking up four hours later than usual was definitely meaning something.   _Ja… today I could catch up some sleep._ Ludwig closed his eye, trying to fall asleep again. He could’ve succeed if it weren't for interruption of the foreign substance. 

Ruffle ruffle—

 _Warte (Wait)… something’s not right._ Ludwig also felt something light and warm were leaning onto his chest and clinging into his arm. Something fluffy was in his hand and something soft was clinging onto his arm. It didn’t take long for him to realize they were Feliciana’s wing and breast.

Ludwig flipped the bedsheet away. There she was, completely naked Feliciana blinked at him sleepily, but soon her eyes were wide open and she beamed gleefully. “Ve~ good morning, Luddy!” Very innocently, like there was nothing with this whole situation, she even clung onto him tighter. 

Ludwig’s eyes widened. “Feliciana! How in the holy hell did you get into my bed!” he exclaimed as he jerked his body up fiercely. As a result, Ludwig accidently pushed Feliciana away from his bed. With a loud noise, Feliciana collapsed onto the floor.

“Waah! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Feliciana whimpered. “Ve~ I got very cold and very scary! The couch was so cold and the living room was really dark!” She leaned up, entirely exposing her upper body.

Ludwig shut his eyes and turned his face away from her and growled. He could feel himself getting hotter and _bigger_ . Normally, when he saw naked women in front of him, he would’ve took his pants off and spread their legs like he did to all the girls he had _hired_ or met for _purposes_. However, something stopped him. Something which Ludwig couldn’t explain, halted him from coveting Feliciana. 

Ludwig scowled. “A—and I told you my rules are the law in my house! Put your clothes on! Now!”

“Ve… but human’s clothes are uncomfortable!” Feliciana glanced at her wings and sniveled. “My wings keep sticking in there!”

Ludwig’s voice got louder as his face got redder. “I don’t care!” He furiously threw the bedsheet over Feliciana’s head. _Cold water shower, cold water shower, cold water shower…_ While darting to his bathroom, Ludwig muttered in his head like it was a magic spell that could suppress his _necessity_.

* * *

Fully clothed Ludwig and Feliciana —with Ludwig’s shirts on— were sitting across the table. The awkward atmosphere dominated the table. They didn’t even make an eye contact. Feliciana’s fingers were nervously tipping on the glass cup filled with water Ludwig poured. Her eyes were teary with what she thought was the likely future. She looked like a puppy that was about to be seriously punished. From head to toes, Feliciana was practically _screaming_ “Ve! Luddy please don’t kick me out!”

Ludwig on the other hand was crossing his arms while trying to concentrate how their situations got to this point. Ludwig wasn’t aware of it, but he had a solid reputation of looking intimidating among everyone he knew. In addition, his stern and robust facial and body features were tremendous supporters. Right now, they were beyond terrifying Feliciana.

 _First thing’s first._ Ludwig decided to break the silence. “So—.”

Feliciana visibly jolted. “Ve! Luddy, please don’t kick me out! I’m sorry that I snuck into your bed and took your shirts off! I promise I won’t do it again! W—where would I go if I leave? Ve, I can cook nice foods for you if you want! O—or I can clean you house! Please, I’ll do anything!” Her eyes were even more teary. They were close to burst tears out.

Ludwig felt slightly guilty. One of his options was to kick -not literally though- Feliciana out of his house but that option wasn’t tempting; actually, he had no intention to comply it since last night before he closed his eyes. Ludwig couldn’t understand or know why, but Ludwig wanted Feliciana to stay. He sighed. “Calm down, Feli. I’m not going to kick you out of my house. I only have some questions. 

“Ve…? Really?” Feliciana asked. When Ludwig nodded, Feliciana happily smiled. “Thank you, Luddy!” she chirped.

Ludwig cleared his throats. If he said he didn’t feel good making her to smile,  “So, what are you doing in the human world, then? How did you even get here?”

“Ve… I don’t know. I don’t remember what happened! I can’t remember anything!” There were genuine confusion and terror in her eyes. Feliciana started to hyperventilate, her eyes were moisturizing. Ludwig felt the pleasantness he just felt was fading away.

“I—I was taking a siesta in my bed, waiting for my family, but the next thing I remember is that I was falling from Heaven and crushed at your balcony!” Suddenly, Feliciana started to snivel. Tears were trickling from her eyes. “M—maybe I got kicked out from Heaven? Ve… maybe it’s because I take too many siestas? Or I eat too much pasta? Ve… I just miss my family so much!” Then Feliciana started so sob. She cupped her face to hide the tears but they slipped through her fingers.

Feliciana’s story was irrelevant. However, Ludwig didn’t care at the moment. He was sympathing her. The emotion he didn’t know he still had it with him. However, Ludwig didn’t know what to do about this situation. He reached his hand to Feliciana but all he could grasp was an air. He couldn’t comfort her. He couldn’t even hold her hands and say everything will be okay.

Ludwig thought about his brother. He remembered that Gilbert always cheered him up when they were children. Even though Ludwig couldn’t understand everything Gilbert did, they were happy brothers. Everything changed after the _incident_ . Gilbert still tried to reach out to Ludwig but he had been pushing his brother away. Then Ludwig thought of _her_. Who could make anyone happy, who could make anyone to smile, who he missed dearly.

Ludwig saw the bruises. _I might be pressuring her too much… after all, she was thrown into a different world in a day._ Ludwig felt bad for Feliciana. Plus he remembered that he pushed her out of his bed and made her to collapse onto the floor. Ludwig’s guilt was penetrating his conscious. “Stay here.” Ludwig went to the bathroom to bring a box of cotton swabs, two bandages, and an arnicare. He kneeled in front of Feliciana “Let me see.” She nodded and placed her knees. Ludwig swabbed the arnicare with the cotton swabs and carefully applied on Feliciana’s knees. “Oww…” she winced. “Hold still. It won’t take long.” 

Ludwig tried his best not to glimpse between Feliciana’s thighs and… He coughed and focused to apply the arnicare. Although it slipped up, Ludwig was grateful that his shirts were big. After he finished applying the arnicare on Feliciana’s knees, he gently taped the bandages on her knees. _Have I ever took care of someone like this before in my life?_ Ludwig stuned. The answer was _Nein_ and he knew it very well. However, it was vaguely familiar

“Ve~ Luddy is so kind.” Feliciana muttered.

Ludwig halted. Suddenly, it occurred to him. _Kind… She doesn’t even have a clue._ “Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not a good person; _definitely_ , not a kind person. You’re an angel, Feli. You should know how to distinguish who’s naughty or nice.”

“But, Luddy!” Feliciana gently palmed his cheek and made Ludwig to look her in the eye. Ludwig tried to protest but when his met Feliciana’s eyes, he felt her warm amber eyes were melting his icy blue eyes. “Of course, I know when someone is naughty or nice. Ve~ and I know! Luddy is so nice and sweet and kind!

Ludwig frowned. Something twirled inside him. He snapped Feliciana’s hands away and glared at her. “Who do you think you are to—.”

Feliciana interrupted. She grasped Ludwig’s hands. “Bad people don’t make faces like that or help someone when they’re hurt! Luddy is just shy and hurt and that’s okay. Because I _know—_ I really do know Luddy is a wonderful person.” She gently pecked on his forehead. Ludwig’s face got red. _Very_ red. He suddenly jerked up from the floor and fished out his keys and wallet from the drawer.

“Ve~ where are you going, Luddy?” Feliciana asked. She tried to stand up from the chair but Ludwig waved not to.

Ludwig grabbed his coat from the coat hanger and flung it onto his shoulder. “I—I’ll go buy some clothes for you to wear!” He used the first excuse that came out of his head and opened the door. 

Before Ludwig left his apartment, he warned Feliciana. “Keep that shirt _on_ this time.”

* * *

“This and… that will do.” Ludwig was carefully choosing clothes for Feliciana in one of the stores in the mall. It was the first time in his life for him to buy the clothes that weren't for himself. When Ludwig blushed when glanced at the clothes he chose: cute dresses which would perfectly match with Feliciana’s cuteness— he meant her beauty.

 _It’s because these would be more comfortable for Feli… ja, of course! Considering what she was wearing when she crashed, these types of dresses must be the best for her…_ However, no matter how hard he tried, Ludwig couldn’t erase the thought which the dresses he chose were absolutely based on his taste.  

After Ludwig paid for the dresses, he seriously contemplated about whether he should go and buy underwears for Feliciana or not, but in the end he concluded that it would put himself into an _extremely_ embarrassing situation. _Maybe I can give her some money later and she can buy those herself._ Ludwig blushed harder, imagining the scene. 

As Ludwig exited the mall, he ignited one of his cigarettes and brought it into his mouth. He blew a chain of smoke. While beer always helped him to kill stresses, cigarette always helped him to calm down and concentrate. Too many things had happened during the last fourteen hours. Ludwig needed some time to think about what to do next while smoking his cigarette.

“Ludwig?” A voice with a British accent called Ludwig from his back. He knew who the voice belonged to very well. The owner’s affection towards the British literature resulted her accent whenever she spoke English. Ludwig slowly turned around and faced the owner. _It really was you_. Ludwig stunned, he was completely speechless. His cigarette fell from his mouth but none of them cared. 

The woman seemed to be in her early thirties with long slightly curled brown hair and icy but warm blue eyes insecurely waved at Ludwig, but her smile was compassionate and wholehearted that could always comforted him. The smile Ludwig had dearly missed. _So my eyes didn’t deceive me then._ Ludwig took a deep breath, but it didn’t help him.

The brunette glanced at the shopping bags Ludwig was holding. “I see that you’ve been shopping. Are they for you?” The brunette playfully grinned. She knew that all of them were women’s clothes, those were her favorite brands; in fact, she was wearing one.

“ _N—nein_!” Ludwig blushed. “They’re for my… my…” He uncharacteristically stuttered. Ludwig absolutely had no idea how to introduce or explain Feliciana to the brunette. He wasn’t even sure what she was to him. He’d be damned if he honestly told her that there was an angel crashed into his house. The brunette would believe him; she always did. However, this wasn’t about whether she believed him or not. Guest? Unwanted surprise? Friend? Liability? Or his lov— 

The brunette giggled. “I know. I was just joking.” 

Ludwig was so relieved that he decided not to buy the underwears.

“You haven’t changed since the last time we saw each other. Well, anything but your appearance.” She shrugged. Her blue eyes showed hints of longing. Ludwig refused to make an eye contact with her: he shut his eyes and turned his face away.

Ludwig clenched his fists. It was too painful to look into her eyes. “And neither have _you_. Although, I can’t say that I’m remembering you correctly.”

The brunette smiled. No words were shared between them: they didn’t need to talk in order to know what each other was thinking. Countless feelings interacted between the two. Finally the brunette broke the silence. “You should head back. Don’t keep your lady waiting~.” She winked. They both knew exactly what it meant. Ludwig blushed, but before he could protest the brunette waved once again and walked away with a smile. Ludwig lingered even after she completely disappeared into the crowd.

* * *

In Ludwig’s mind, the woman with brown hair still lingered. He tried his best to forget about meeting her, but the thought of her only expanded larger and larger. He sighed and opened his door. “I’m home Fel— Argh!” Ludwig was caught off guard as Feliciana jumped onto him and whimpered.

Feliciana clung onto Ludwig’s neck harder from fear. “Ve! Luddy! What is that movie? It’s so scary! Why is that man doing that to that woman?” She clung— she squeezed him harder.

Ludwig yelped. “Feli! What in the hell are you sayin—.”

“ _You dirty whore!_ ” A man with a familiar voice hollered. If Ludwig was not wrong— the _only_ way that the man could shout is from his flat screen or his laptop. Chills pierced through Ludwig’s spine like a shot of lightning.  

“ _Master! Aaah! Yes! Oh! Harder!_ ” Another familiar voice moaned.

Now Ludwig completely realized where and what was making that sound. He just hoped to God —who Ludwig did start to believe since he’d encountered Feliciana— that he was wrong. _Oh, nein. Bitte nein (Oh, no. Please no)!_ On the flat screen, there were a naked woman with gigantic breasts handcuffed into a bed with a wearing nothing but a blindfold around her face. Her gigantic breasts vigorously bounced around as a very muscular with a leather mask thrusting furiously while whipping her hips.

“FELICIANA!” Ludwig’s blush exploded. “WHERE IN THE HELL DID YOU FIND THIS!”

“Veee!” Feliciana squealed in panic. Ludwig’s voice was never so loud. She started to babble. “I got sleepy when I was waiting for you! So I went to your bed to sleep but I found some stuffs in the box! Among those there were some DVDs! I thought they were movies so I played one of them!”

 _Was (What)? Under my bed? Oh Gott… did she also see…_ Feliciana continued to explain but Ludwig couldn't listen. At this point, Ludwig was _beyond_ frightened. He trembled his way to his bedroom only to find his _magazines_ and _toys_ sprawled all over the floor. It felt like the time stopped.  

Ludwig roared. “FELICIANAAAAA!!!”

Ludwig sincerely and thoroughly contemplated about kicking Feliciana out of his balcony after he cleaned all the incident.

* * *

**(A/N)**

**Next time, try hiding your** **_DVDs_ ** **and** **_magazines_ ** **somewhere more meticulous and discreet, Luddy. The toys too xD Well~ unless you didn’t die from embarrassment ;)**  

 **_The woman with brown hair and blue eyes_ ** **is a total mystery! If you’re asking, yes! She’s an OC, but she has a big part in this story.**

**No one knows what she’s planning though ;) She could help Luddy to love Feli; she could buy a pasta to Luddy, yes to Luddy lol; hell idk, she could even seduce Kiku! xD Just wait and see what happens next ;)**

**Please Follow Favorite and Review! Especially reviews are the best inspirations!**

 


	3. Chapter 3

Kapitel 3.   
  


“Ve~ pasta~!” Feliciana was more cheerful and bubbly than usual. This was tenth time she was sprinting through the aisles humming ‘pasta’. Ludwig had never imagined someone’s contentment could immensely boost up just by surrounded by food. People were staring at Feliciana, and Ludwig as an extension. If their looks weren’t so amenable, he would’ve left the store already.

“I love grocery stores!” Feliciana chirped. Ludwig just shook his head.

After more an hour of ranting and scolding, Ludwig remembered that he needed to buy some groceries. When he opened his apartment door, Feliciana latched onto his back and whined about how much she wanted to go out. Despite his desire to kick her out of his apartment, when Ludwig’s eyes met Feliciana’s he just nodded his head without thinking.  _ I seriously need to learn how to resist that. _ He grunted. However, when Ludwig glanced at the paper bags he brought from mall, he concluded that Feliciana could some of those.

Indeed, one of the dresses and coat he bought fitted quite well with— _ Nein! What am I thinking! _ Ludwig blushed. 

“Look at those tomatoes, Luddy! They look so fresh and pretty!” Feliciana squealed in excitement. “Ve~ you know, there are  _ thousands _ of foods you can make with tomatoes!” She made a big circle in the air with her arms. Few people who were passing by chuckled.

“So I take it that you’re favorite food is a tomato?” Ludwig asked. He got curious. Just a minute ago, Feliciana was so enthusiastic about pasta. However, the way her eyes shined made him to think the otherwise.

“Ve~ nope! Pasta is my favorite food! Tomato is actually my sister’s—” Feliciana paused. The smile on her face slowly faded away. “Favorite…” Her cheerful atmosphere faded along with her smile. 

Ludwig didn’t like— he hated to see Feliciana like this. He thought he could do anything to see her smile again. 

“You, um… wanna go out to the park? It’s cloudy but the weather isn’t bad.” Ludwig suggested. 

“Ve… I think I’d like to do that…” Feliciana mummered. 

* * *

Sunday morning of the Central Park was very relaxing. The leafs showed that it was a middle of an October all too well. The beautiful scenery of the park was like a delicate painting. The colors of red, orange, yellow, brown, and occasional green flooded the park. Everyone was walking, jogging, sitting, sleeping, or playing. Among them, a cute girl with auburn hair and amber eyes was the most flamboyant. She was like a bunny hopping around a carrot farm. Her eyes shined with excitement and happiness. However, no matter how joyously she dashed around the park, the girl didn’t leave the eyesight from a tall muscular man with sleek blonde hair and icy blue eyes, like she was told. 

Feliciana clung onto Ludwig’s arm tighter than ever. “Ve~ it feels so wonderful to be out in the park! Thank you for taking me out, Luddy!”

He didn’t know the reason, but seeing Feliciana’s smile again enlightened Ludwig. “You’re very welcome, Feli. But please. Don’t get too close to me.” Ludwig slightly pushed her away from his arm. But of course, Feliciana didn’t comply. He just sighed and let her cling on his arm.

Having Feliciana as his company as Ludwig was walking in the park was…  _ bizarre _ . Not in a bad way, but it was unreservedly different from jogging the park alone. It even felt good if he was being honest. Every comments Feliciana made about how pretty the leaves are, how cute the squirrels are, or how bright the sky is gave Ludwig completely different view on how he usually saw the park. Ludwig concluded that he could enjoy the day.

“Ve~ Luddy, Luddy! Look at the man over there! He has such a cute puppy with him!” Feliciana gleefully pointed and squealed in happiness.

Ludwig glanced at the direction. There was a short asian man in beige jacket and scarf sitting on a bench with a dog leash on his hand. He was closing his eyes and enjoying the gentle breeze of autumn. Ludwig knew who the man was all too well. Even though Ludwig had nothing against the man; in fact, Ludwig was actually fond of the man. He just wanted to avoid the situation of greeting each other. Especially when he had Feliciana clinging onto his arm.

“ _ Äh (Umm)… _ Feli? I don’t think we should go and talk to that man.” Feliciana was getting dragged as Ludwig turned his heels as quietly as possible.

“Ve? Why, Luddy?” Feliciana cocked her head. Even though Feliciana was getting dragged she kept her arms around Ludwig. She wondered why he wanted to avoid meeting the man and his dog. 

Ludwig tried to think of a reasonable and believable excuse. “It’s because—” 

“Mr. Beilschmidt? Is that you?” 

_ Too late. Scheiße (Shit).  _ Ludwig groaned innerly. He was already aware that Lady Luck  _ never _ stood his side not even once in his life but he was never accustomed to it. He tried his best not to show any discomforts and nodded at the Asian. “ _ Guten Tag _ , Kiku.”

“ _ Konnichiwa _ , Mr. Beilschmidt.” Kiku slowly bowed a greeting. “I am glad that our paths has crossed. Although, I must confess; I did not expect to see you here.” 

“ _ Ja, _ I only go for a run in the morning. Well, except for today, apparently.”

Kiku’s fingers timidly fidgeted with his dog leash. “Oh… I had no idea. I wish I had known it sooner.” Ludwig always considered Kiku impassive, but he caught slight sadness on his colleague's eyes. 

It took few seconds, but it perceived Ludwig. Even though Kiku was the closest person he could call as a friend and he  had voluntarily helped him on occasions whenever he received overwhelming amounts of works, Ludwig had never shared anything private with Kiku. every conversation they shared were completely work-related. In addition, Kiku had offered to buy dinner to Ludwig. He rejected every offer. Except Gilbert, in his whole twenty-five-years of life, no one had offered him a dinner or a drink. 

Ludwig concluded one thing: he had no friends. He never had. His entire life in his workplace, his life in his college, his life in high school, in middle school, elementary school… 

It was overwhelming. The  _ incident _ had seriously destroyed Ludwig after all. He was broken into pieces. 

Then Kiku’s eyes met amber eyes. Whose owner was waving hello at his dog with one hand and clinging onto Ludwig’s arm with the other hand. Kiku was surprised and curioused from the unexpected  _ company _ of his colleague. He bowed gently to her. “Please excuse my manner. My name is Kiku Honda. I am a friend of Mr. Beilschmidt. It is my great honor to meet you, miss…”

_ Er ist mein Freund (He's my friend)? _ Ludwig was surprised. That was unexpected. Since he had always declined Kiku’s offers, he thought Kiku wouldn’t like him. However, the  _ word _ came from Kiku almost made Ludwig smile. Just second Ludwig thought he didn’t have any friends, but he had one the whole time. 

Feliciana beamed. She was always overjoyed whenever she met new people. “Feliciana! But you can call me Feli like everyone else! I’m from—” 

“ITALY!” Ludwig immediately spluttered, making Kiku and Feliciana to flinch. They both looked at him with surprise. Getting embarrassed, Ludwig cleared his throat to compensate his embarrassment and continued. “She’s from Venice, Italy. Right, Feli?” He didn’t even want to imagine how Kiku would reply or react once Feliciana said she came from Heaven. Just the thought itself made him shiver. Ludwig eyed her a message: _ Just say yes!  _

Feliciana understood Ludwig’s desperate attempt. “Oh… oh!  _ Sì _ ! I am! I’m from Italy!  _ Ciao _ , Kiku!  _ Molto piacere di conoscerti (Very nice to meet you) _ ! You have such a cute puppy! Can I pat him? Pretty please?” Her eyes sparkled. 

Kiku nodded and handed his dog leash to Feliciana. He seemed pleased. “Ah, I see. Italy is such a beautiful country. If I may say, I am a huge fan of your country’s art, music, and culture.” Thankfully, Kiku didn’t seem to be suspicious.

“Ve!  _ Grazie _ , Kiku! You should go travel there some time! It’s  _ meraviglioso _ _ (wonderful) _ !” Feliciana chirped while patting Kiku’s dog. “Does he have a name?”

Kiku smiled at the compliment. “It’s Pochi.” 

_ Feli and Kiku seemed to get along quite well. _ Ludwig chuckled. It was flattering to see his friend and… Ludwig still didn’t know what Feliciana was to him but it was good to see them getting along. 

When Ludwig saw Feliciana knelt down and patted Kiku’s dog, he reminded of his dogs and how he lost all of them from the  _ incident _ . Indeed, the  _ incident _ took far too many things from him. 

“Well, I am very glad to see that Mr. Beilschmidt has someone besides him.” Kiku smiled; he sincerely looked happy. “I felt bad because he always seemed lonely.”

“ _ Ey (Hey) _ , what’s that supposed to—” Ludwig protested but Kiku wasn’t finished.

“Please excuse my interruption for your date.” 

_ Date!? _ Ludwig almost stumbled from Kiku’s choice of word.

Kiku didn’t notice Ludwig’s shock. He just peacefully smiled. “I won’t be bothering you anymore and I hope you both have a wonderful time. I’ll see you at the work tomorrow, Mr. Beilschmidt… and it was my big honor meeting you, Feli.” Kiku bowed.

Feliciana jumped into Kiku for a goodbye hug. “Ve~ goodbye, Kiku!” Kiku’s blush infuriated. He shrieked and babbled some slurred Japanese words even Feliciana couldn’t understand. He looked like he was about to pass out. Ludwig had never seen his colleague 

“ _ P—please _ ! I’m really not used to being hugged, Feli.” Kiku somehow managed to utter a complete sentence. 

“Ve? But it’s always good to hug, Kiku!”

Ludwig didn’t know why but it made him incredibly uncomfortable; almost  _ angry _ . He dramatically cleared his throat, but neither Feliciana nor Kiku had heard him. Before Ludwig could try it again, Feliciana let Kiku go and beamed. “Ve~ it was really really nice meeting you again, Kiku!”

“L—likewise, Feliciana…” Kiku shyly replied.

Feliciana gave Kiku his leash back. “Bye, Pochi~.” She waved at the dog. The dog seemed delighted but it was as quiet as his owner. “ _ Ciao! Arrivederci~ _ ” Feliciana happily waved at Kiku while he was stumbling after her  _ affectionate expression _ . 

Once Kiku finally disappeared from their sights Feliciana beamed and asked. “Oh, Luddy? What’s a date?”

Ludwig didn’t answer her question. 

* * *

_ Date… do Feli and I look like we’re dating? _ The thought circled around Ludwig’s head repeatedly. 

“V—ve…” Feliciana frowned. Suddenly, she looked very uncomfortable. She started to shiver. “Luddy… I… this feels so…” She panted and cupped between her legs. Few  _ drops _ slipped between her fingers and trickled down on her thigh.

“It happens when you have to go to a restroom!” Ludwig bowled. His head jerked around to find a restroom. Ludwig didn’t even imagine that not buying the underwears for Feliciana would put him in this horrible situation. His face got furiously red.

“THERE!” Ludwig fiercely pointed it and spluttered. He almost gleeful to find a restroom. “There’s the restroom! Go inside and use any available toilet! You’ll know what to do once you get inside! And for  _ God’s sakes _ ! Do not forget to wash your hands after that!”

Feliciana whimpered but sprinted into the restroom. 

“ _ Verdammt (Dammit) _ !” Ludwig scowled. He fished out one of his cigarettes and lightened it up. He needed one after all of this.

Someone approached Ludwig. Even though Ludwig completely turned his back from the person, he knew who it was just by her scent. He dropped his cigarette and stomped it out. 

“Hello, Ludwig. Good day, isn’t it?” 

Ludwig took a deep breath before he turned around and faced the woman with brown hair and blue eyes. “And  _ guten Tag (good afternoon) _ , to you too.” 

“Cute date you have there.” The brunette winked. "It was Feli. I believe.”

Ludwig blushed and muttered. “S—she’s  _ not _ my date.”

“Really? Aww, what a tragedy. I thought you guys looked so cute together than you did before.” The brunette shook her head and pouted. She didn’t Ludwig’s eyes, but he didn’t miss the glimpse of her mischievous grin. She always liked joking with him. However, what took Ludwig’s attention was the last part of her sentence.

_ Before? What does she mean by before? _

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to her?” The brunette asked before Ludwig could ask what did she mean by “before”. It was crystal clear that she was trying to change the subject. She was always smooth at this. As a reply, Ludwig steadily shook his head. Unlike the brunette, he found the situation uncomfortable.

The brunette raised her eyebrow. “Why not?”

“Because even I’m not sure, or can’t believe you’re actually right here in front of me.” Ludwig asserted. His voice was tensed but weak. It was like he was trying his best to squeeze it out. The smile had disappeared from the brunette’s face. She looked hurt. She opened her mouth, trying to say something but she hesitated.

Ludwig glared down at the tips of his shoes. He was trying his best to hold his tears back. “Listen to me very carefully.” He couldn’t look her in the eyes; he was too afraid to see what face the brunette would have made. “Don't come to me again.” His voice cracked. They both noticed it. Before the brunette could say something Ludwig turned around and walked away. He tried his best not to looked back.

Feliciana came out of the bathroom. She spotted Ludwig and vigorously waved with a smile. “Luddy! I’m done! It felt very good! Ve~ thank you for waiting!” Her smile disappeared when she saw Ludwig’s face.

“Luddy? Ve… is Luddy okay?” There were genuine worries in Feliciana’s eyes.

“I’m fine.” Even Ludwig himself wasn’t convinced. 

“Ve… no, you're not. What’s wrong?” Felicina had different colors and shapes with the burnette's eyes, but Feliciana had the essence with hers. The essence shined the bright light that could melt the frozen heart. Ludwig finally realized: he needed it. He needed  _ her _ . Right now. 

“Luddy… Ve, I—”

Feliciana couldn’t finish her sentence. Ludwig dug his face into the crook of Feliciana’s neck and wrapped his arms around her fragile waist. Feliciana paused, but soon, she slowly reached her arm out to pat Ludwig’s back. She smiled and cooed. “Ve~ you know, Luddy. Even though your hand, your arm and your cheek is warm but your heart was always cold.”

Although Ludwig didn’t answer, he was carefully listening to every single part of the sentence.

“Ve~ I think your heart is starting to get warmer.

Ludwig couldn’t stop them. No matter how hard he gritted his teeth and shut his eyes, gasp and tears were slipping out. Ludwig couldn’t understand or know why was he doing this. He clenched his jaw and shut his eyes to suppress them. He didn’t want Feliciana to see them. He pretended to rub his nose to wipe his tears. 

“Ve… it’s okay, Luddy. I’m here for you.” Feliciana cooed.

The comfort reminded of  _ her _ . The woman who Ludwig could always lean onto. The woman who Ludwig couldn’t even say a proper goodbye. The woman who Ludwig just walked away from.

* * *

**(A/N)**

**Yay~! Luddy is hugging Feli and Kiku is his friend!!**

**Yeah… the incident affected Ludwig** **_horrendously_ ** **;( but don’t worry! Feli is here to fix it! The identity of the brunette is still a mystery ;)**

**Sneak Peek for the next chapter: The appearance of THE AWESOME GILBERT!!! >_<**   
  



	4. Chapter 4

Kapitel 4.

 

“Ve~ Luddy! Welcome home!” Feliciana joyfully sprinted to Ludwig like a puppy that had been dying for her master to return as he entered his apartment. He was almost seeing her non-existing tail wagging lively and her puppy-ears happily standing straight. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pecked his cheek. Every single day, whenever Ludwig came home from work Feliciana always greeted him the way she just did.

Ludwig rolled his eyes but he patted Feliciana’s back as the reply for her welcome. “ _Ja, ja._ ”

“Here! I’ll take your coat!” Feliciana chirped and stretched both of her arms adorably as Ludwig chuckled and took his coat off.

Three weeks had passed since Feliciana crashed into Ludwig’s balcony. Although Ludwig would never admit, he was actually getting accustomed to— honestly, he was enjoying to have Feliciana as his… his housemate; his _maid_ in most cases he liked to refer. While Ludwig was working Feliciana stayed in his house and did all the house works: making his bed, doing the dishes, cleaning the house etc. Out of all of Feliciana’s services, her cooking was undoubtedly the best. Every morning she packed lunch for him and cooked him dinner at evening.

However, as much as there were goods in Feliciana’s residence there were catastrophic outcomes.

Feliciana continued to sneak into his bed every night. He had absolutely _no idea_ how she could perform such trick. Rarely, Feliciana had Ludwig's dress shirt on, but mostly she didn’t wear anything. Ludwig even bought nightgowns for Feliciana to wear but she whined and refused to wear them. Instead, she gave a sheepish and blushious reply: “ _Ve… but the shirts smell like Luddy! I like it_ !” and she grabbed the collar and shyly nuzzled like she was trying to emphasize what she was trying to say. Not to mention that her action made his face very red. The other day, Feliciana flushed Ludwig’s pack of cigarettes and zippo lighter into a toilet. And of course, the only toilet in the apartment was clogged. “ _Luddy shouldn’t smoke! Ve~ it’s really really bad for your health!_ ” said Feliciana while desperately trying to escape from Ludwig’s wrath.

“Oh, and dinner’s almost ready! It’ll be done around when you come back from shower!” Feliciana chirped. She was wearing her apron on Ludwig’s dress shirt— as she did every other day.

“Thanks, Feli.”

Feliciana’s apron and his dress shirt gently floated together as she hurried back to kitchen. He didn’t even imagine that Feliciana would be staying this long. His plan to make her leave was quite genuine. But now, he thought that he wanted everyday to be like today, yesterday, day before yesterday, and… _Verdammt (Dammit), why am I thinking about this!_ Ludwig shook his head.

Feliciana had something in her. Ludwig couldn’t explain what it was but he was perceived that he was attracted to her. _It must be one of her angel’s charm or something like that._ But deep inside his mind, Ludwig could feel it was something much more than that.

Ludwig glanced at his bed. The bed was well made but he spotted some small wrinkles on the sheet and the pillow that indicated someone was sleeping on his bed. There was no way Ludwig couldn’t know who it was. He got annoyed but he didn’t care much. Feliciana didn’t make a mess. She just slept in his bed. His instinct had already told him that she slept in his bed _everyday_ when he was at work. Well… actually he could smell her faint scent whenever he lied on his bed after he arrived home. Mostly she had made the bed very neatly enough for Ludwig to only recognize that she slept there by scent, but this time she simply didn’t make the bed neat enough.

 _Well, at least she didn’t sneak into my bed naked while I was sleeping._ Ludwig sighed and shook his head.

“What the…” When Ludwig mindlessly glanced at his bed again, he saw something that he didn’t see at the first time. He leaned closely onto his pillow and grabbed it. Before Ludwig examined it, he thought he saw the different color because of the light, but when he looked closely without any prejudices.

“It’s Feli’s hair.” Ludwig muttered. He eyed her stand of hair closely.

_Does angel’s hair fall like human’s does?_

Ludwig couldn’t remember before since he was too distracted then, but he remembered that Feliciana had to use a restroom. When they were at the park three weeks ago. Moreover, when she first crashed into Ludwig’s balcony, she got bruises on both of her knees. Indeed, he wasn’t an expert about angels, but he knew what angel was; he had heard of angels before. How beautiful they are, how pure they are, how enchanting they are. Even without the basic knowledge of the celestial beings, everyone would think that they wouldn’t get hurt by anything. Ludwig thought about the possibility of Feliciana had been human for the first time since they met. However, he had to immediately disregard the possibility because she had a rock-solid evidence: her angel wings. He couldn’t think of any scientific explanation of Feliciana’s existence nor her wings.

_Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe her hair got pulled by static. And angels have bodies like we do! Ja… I’m sure it’s nothing._

Ludwig grabbed clothes to change and went to his bathroom. He took his clothes off and threw them into the laundry basket. He grinned as he smelled the glimpse of Feliciana’s dinner. _Let’s finish this quickly._ Ludwig entered to the shower booth and pulled the glass shower door close. He grinned as he thought about the delicious dinner waiting for him. All of those positive thought vanished as he twisted the shower faucet.

“ _Scheiße_!  _Was zum teufel (What the fuck)_!” Ludwig jolted and hit his head on the wall behind him as the icy cold water splashed all over his body. He wrenched the faucet shut and brought his hand to rub the back of his head. _What the hell just happened?_ Ludwig groaned. Even in winter he turned the faucet to the coldest. All these years, it hadn’t affected him at all. Getting surprised by the cold water wasn’t like him. He had been taken cold shower every day. He slowly turned the water on and reached his hand to the water. It was cold but bearable. But when the water hit his left chest, he felt beyond freezing. It felt like he was getting buried alive into the snow.

Ludwig decided to take a shower with warmer water this time, thinking he could work on the water’s temperature later. However, he still couldn't point out why today’s water was trying freeze him. _It’s because of the weather. It must've affected the water temperature._ He muttered, but even he was unsure about that answer.

After Ludwig took a shower, he wore his shirts and shorts and he left the bathroom with fresh and comfortable aftermath of a shower. He saw Feliciana sitting quelously on her chair. She was hungrily ogling at the pasta on the dinner table. She looked uncharacteristically impatient.

“Ve~ Luddy! I was waiting for you like since forever! I’m so hungry but I didn’t want to eat without you!” Feliciana whined as Ludwig sat on his chair.

Ludwig frowned. He could feel that something wasn’t right.  “Did you just say that you’re hungry?”

“Uh—huh.” Feliciana nodded. “Why, Luddy?” She cocked her head, confused by the sudden question.

“How do you know how it feels?” Ludwig questioned. He began to suspect what he had surmised had to be resurfaced. Something was wrong.

Feliciana seemed confused as well. “Ve… I just felt… hungry?” Every part of the sentence she spoke she sounded confused. She acted like she felt the hunger in the first time in her life but she knew the concept of hunger.

“Are you feeling okay?” Ludwig asked— no, he interrogated her. Even though Feliciana was an excellent cook —except her so called “happy dinner time with Ludwig”— she never ate _anything_. Ludwig had assumed that the concept of hunger didn’t apply to angels; he thought angels didn’t need to eat. And yet, Feliciana expressed hunger.

 _Was there any trick that she could fake her wings?_ He felt exasperatedly betrayed.

“Luddy? What’s wrong?” Feliciana asked nervously. Her voice trembled.

Ludwig stood up from his chair. He needed to see it for himself. He needed to see that she wasn’t lying to him. “Get up. I need to see something.”

“Ve?”

“I said get up.” Ludwig yanked Feliciana’s arm and threw her onto the floor.

“Ow! Luddy! W—what are you doing?” Feliciana cried. She tried to escape from his grasp but she was too weak and fragile compared to Ludwig.

Ludwig didn’t answer. He only forced trembling Feliciana down onto the floor and viciously pulled down the shirt she wore. Her wings were pitiably revealed, but Ludwig didn’t stop. He started his examination. He stroked the feathers, dug his hands all over, and even tried to pull the root of her wings to find any proof that she was lying. However, the more he tried, the more he found more proofs that her wings were real.

“Luddy! Please stop!” Feliciana cried in pain, tears trickled down from her eyes and dropped onto the floor. Her body trembled from terror.

Ludwig finally realized how his action could be reflected and what he was doing to her. Feliciana had been sleeping every night with him naked. Though her naked body distracted him from looking at her wings, but they were _always_ there. This whole action was completely pointless. He jerked away and apologized. “I—I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

Feliciana didn’t answer. She didn’t even get up. Hugging her knees to the chest, She started weeping. Her wings covered her body like a blanket.

“I’m not hungry today, I’ll just go to bed.” Ludwig turned his back and rolled his fists until his knuckles hurt. He couldn’t look back until he closed the door behind him.

* * *

_Seventeen years ago…_

I was lying down on the grass and staring at the sky mindlessly. Tears were interrupting my sight but I didn’t rub them off. I didn’t care about them at all. I didn’t want to do anything but staring at the sky. Only two sentences were circling in my head repeatedly: _I lost everything. I lost everyone._

My chain of thought was interrupted when something— _someone_ fell very hard on top of me. “ _Argh_!”

Strong pain fell right through my stomach. I immediately pushed the person. I was surprised that the person got rolled away so easily. It was a girl with auburn hair and amber eyes who looked around five years old to be even more precise. She was wearing a green dress and a white apron with a matching maid hat on her head… I think. I couldn’t see her clearly because of the moistures that I ignored. I snapped at her. “Watch where you’re going, _Dummkopf (idiot)_!”

“Ve! I’m sorry. I’m sorry! I was just walking around the hill but I didn’t know anyone was lying here.” That girl suddenly stood up and apologized like a machine gun. I was turned my head away and was going to tell that girl to beat it. Until she whimpered.

“Please don’t hit me.”

She caught me off guard. “Hit you? Really?” I clamored. _Who does she think I am?_

“Ve…” The girl took few steps back as if she felt threatened by me.

“You know what? Just go and leave me alone.” I shooed, but the girl didn’t go like I wanted her to. Instead, she fidgeted her fingers and asked nervously. “Why are you here all alone and ve… why are you crying?”

I stood up and glared at her. “That’s none of your business. Now beat it.”

“I got lost!”

I scoffed. “So?”

“I’m scared! Ve, I lost my grandpa! Can I stay here until finds me, please? We can stay together and I can stop your tears and make you happy and make you smile! Grandpa told me we need to make people happy!”

“I’m not crying!” I rubbed my tears off and turned my back from her to avoid the girl, but she clung into me with a loud whine. I tried to push her away but she wrapped around my arm very tight. I felt my blood was clogging in my veins.

“FINE! You can stay here but no talking! Don’t ask me _any_ questions! Now let my arm go!”

The girl nodded vigorously. Her fear seemed to be worn out. She let go of my arm and sat right next to me. When she beamed her smile, I thought she looked pretty. “Ve… I won’t ask you why you’re crying but can you at least tell me your name?”

“No questions, remember?” However, before I could realize what happened, the girl leaned onto me and pecked my cheek. I could feel the heat gathering on my face. “Ve~ but I’ll tell you mine! Nice to meet you! My name is—”

* * *

Ludwig’s eyes snapped open. He winced and leaned up from his bed. _What was that dream? Why does that girl seem so familiar?_ He knew the hill. It was the hill near his house where he used to go before the incident. However, what he dreamed wasn’t his memory; he couldn’t even remember the dream clearly. Ludwig went to the kitchen and drank a glass of water. When he turned his back, he spotted Feliciana sleeping on the couch. He felt the agonizing twinge of guilt. She never slept on the couch no matter how much he yelled at her. He knelt down and fondled her hair. Feliciana was sleeping naked with a bedsheet wrapped around her. Ludwig’s dress shirt she wore was carelessly dropped on the floor. He didn’t know why but Ludwig gently lifted her with the bedsheet and walked into his bedroom. He fought the powerful urge to peek at her naked body. Once he laid her onto his bed as gently as when he lifted her from the couch and laid himself next to her. He stared at her for minutes.

“Who are you?” He asked; no answer.

“Why did you crash to my apartment?” He asked again; no answer again.

“How did you make me like this?” He asked again; no answer again. But this time, Ludwig’s reaction was different. He leaned onto Feliciana’s face and gently kissed her.

“But I don’t think none of them matters anymore.”

Ludwig carefully reached out his arm around Feliciana. He hesitated but he squirmed closer to her and gently pulled her, like he was treating the most fragile and precious treasure into his chest. Feliciana was always the one who clung into Ludwig. This was the first time Ludwig held Feliciana into his chest. He remembered Feliciana saying his heart was starting to get warmer. He didn’t know how it felt nor understand what it meant, but now he could feel and understand. This wasn’t the warmth that chased the coldness of body, this was the warmth that healed the coldness of heart.

The guilt from earlier this evening was aggravating. Ludwig considered Feliciana as a burden but now he knew that he wanted to protect her more than anything. _I think I know what I need to do from now on._ He pulled the bedsheet and pecked on her forehead.

There were warmth in his eyes that he thought he lost long time ago.

* * *

“Gilbert, I still don’t like this.” The woman with brown hair muttered. Her green eyes scanned the hallway and the doors with uncertainty and her fingers nervously wringing her iPhone as if the host of the apartment was standing behind the door, waiting to kick the door open anytime soon.

“But, Lizzie! We gotta finish what we started! The man with Silver hair whined. Elizabeta didn’t miss the excitement and thrill in her fiancé’s eyes. She alway knew Gilbert was drawn challenges and thrills. She could tell that He had been dreaming about this for only-God-knows-how-long.

“Look, Gil. We can still walk out of this without anyone noticing—”

“Shhh.” Gilbert hissed.

“Oh, don’t you ‘ _Shhh_ ’ me!” Elizabeta hissed back.

Gilbert ignored Elizabeta’s protest. He simply pressed the doorbell and counted ten. When no one spoke or opened the door from the inside, he placed his ear against the door with his eyes closed. He grinned as the result turned out to be satisfying. “See? I told you he’ll be at work.”

“I wasn’t worry about whether he’d be in his house or not! I’m worried because what we’re doing is illegal! We can’t just unlock the door and let ourselves in! Ludwig can actually _sue_ us for breaking into his house or have us arrested by calling a police!” Elizabeta shrieked. Then she added. “And I know things are _not_ well among you Beilschmidt boys. You, your father, and Ludwig!”

“So that’s why I’m doing this! To mend my little brother’s coldass heart and embrace the awesome us!” Gilbert smirked. He wanted Elizabeta to notice what he implied. Outside of Gilbert genuinely enjoying this thrill, he wanted all of them to be family. He was desperate to bond everyone he loved for years. “Including… our dad, you know? Though I don’t know how long would it take.” He wasn’t smirking anymore.

Elizabeta sighed. _Me of all people should understand that._ “Alright, fine.” She raised both of her arms as the sign of surrender. “But remember: if we get caught, and end up in police department or a possible lawsuit, I swear, I’m gonna string you up to the ceiling and beat you with my frying pan until its original shape is unrecognizable. Got it?”

“Oh, is that a new type of foreplay?” Gilbert winked. He was always impervious to his fiancée’s threats. He fished his hidden lock picking kit out of his chest pocket and would’ve picked the door—

“Ve~ good morning!”

If a girl with two braided auburn hair and amber eyes hadn’t opened the door and greeted them brightly.

Gilbert and Elizabeta completely froze. Both of their jaw and Gilbert’s lock picking kit dropped onto the floor. They glanced at each other. No words were shared between them but their eyes were screaming the same thought: _We’re fucked!_

The girl cocked her head. She didn’t understand the gravity of the couple’s situation. “Are you okay?” She asked, breaking the heavy silence shared between the couple.

“Oh, I… _We_ are so sorry, sweetie. We thought this was Ludwig’s house.” Elizabeta apologized and kicked Gilbert’s lock picking set away before the girl could notice it. Even Gilbert didn’t protest. “I think we got the wrong address. We… we’ll be on our way.” She awkwardly waved a goodbye and dragged Gilbert by his collar. She wanted to bolt before the girl got suspicious and call police and he seemed to be complying.

“Ve? Ludwig?” The girl blinked. “You’re talking about Luddy, right? This is Luddy’s house! Please! Come in!” She was very excited to have guests. She rarely got chances to talk to others besides Ludwig. Although, she loved his company.

Gilbert and Elizabeta paused. On a second look, the girl was wearing nothing but a white dress shirt that was too big for her small and delicate figure— probably belonged to a man who was about Ludwig’s size. Gilbert also recognized the brand of the dress shirt. It was the cheap brand which his brother prefered over expensive outfits which he liked to call “waste of money”.

“What the fuck?” Gilbert stunned, ignoring Elizabeta’s frown and the girl’s gasp. He started to babble nonsense, switching back and forth between English and his mother tongue. “ _Du… du bist ein mädchen (You… you’re a girl)_! West is keeping a girl in his house? How could this happ—” He paused and asked the first possibility that came into his mind.

“Are you a hooker?”

Elizabeta slapped the back of Gilbert’s head, which was strong enough to make a hump for a week or two.

“Ve? What’s a hooker?” Feliciana asked. Gilbert nor Elizabeta answered the question. Gilbert avoided an eye contact from guilt and Elizabeta contemplated about whether to hit him again or not.

While Gilbert was rubbing the back of his head with a groan. Elizabeta completely ignored his pain and suggested to the girl. “Maybe it’s best to ask Ludwig.” She smiled and continued. “My name is Elizabeta, by the way. But you can call me Lizzie, Sweetie.” She winked. “And… this is my fiancé Gilbert. He’s Ludwig’s older brother.”

“Ve? Luddy has a big brother?” Feliciana beamed, slightly surprising Elizabeta and Gilbert. Ludwig _never_ talked about his family nor his childhood. He even scared her when she mentioned about them. Maybe today was good chance to know about them!

“Nice to meet you! I’m Feliciana! Ve~ but everyone calls me Feli!” Feliciana wrapped her arms around Elizabeta and Gilbert.

“You must be West’s girlfriend or something if he lets you stay here.” Gilberted patted Feliciana’s back —which felt _very_ different from other backs he had patted but he ignored— and smirked. He immediately liked her and he was happy that Ludwig wasn’t completely alone after all. Feliciana’s cuteness and prettiness added bonuses. “Nice to meet you to Feli. Just call me awesome big brother Gil.”

Feliciana giggled. “Sure, awesome big brother Gil!” She unwrapped her arms and chirped. “Here! Come in and have a seat! I’ll get you something some drinks and snacks!”

Gilbert and Elizabeta sat on the couch with both confusion and glad. They were both worried about Ludwig but he wasn’t completely alone after all. Elizabeta glanced at Gilbert. “Is this the part where I ask you whether all the stories you told me about your brother being a stuck-up were lies or do you think he actually changed?”

Gilbert shrugged. “Don’t ask me. It’s been almost an year since the last time I saw him. Who knows? That little angel had changed him.”

For some reason both Gilbert and Elizabeta unioned that an “angel” was a perfect word to describe Feliciana.

“Ve~ help yourselves!” Feliciana came back with a tea tray. There were delicious looking panna cottas and teapot and three tea cups decorated with flower drawings. Though Elizabeta didn’t know much about Ludwig, she could tell that he wasn't the type of person to buy frilly tea sets and eat fruit cakes and teas as desserts. Obviously they were for Feliciana or at least he allowed her to buy those. Judging by Gilbert’s face, he must’ve thought the same. However, Gilbert almost sighed when he didn’t see any rings from any of her fingers.

 _Anyway! The fun part starts now._ Gilbert smirked mischievously. “So, _Feli_.” Despite Elizabeta’s don’t-you-fucking-dare glare, he was going to enjoy the every last ounce of this. _Let’s start with the fun part._

“How many times did you sleep with Ludwig?”

* * *

“Thank you again for the lunch, Kiku.”

“You’re very welcome, Mr. Beilschmidt. I enjoyed my dinner with you. Although I must confess that I sincerely hope you enjoyed your ramen.”

“It was something I usually don’t eat, but it was delicious.”

 _I do think I’ve been eating too many noodle-based foods though._ Ludwig knew that Feliciana didn’t pack his lunch. He completely understood because what happened was entirely onto him. So today, he planned to eat at the diner nearby or eat a heavy dinner that night, but thankfully, his friend —it felt good to say that word— was there to offer him a lunch in one of his favorite Japanese restaurants. Ludwig enjoyed the company and the food, but he wished that the amount of his lunch was larger. Before he received his ramen, he forgot about the Japanese food’s reputation for its microscopic amount. _No wonder Kiku was so short._ Ludwig thought while he was eating it.

 _I wonder if Feli likes ramen. After all, it’s technically an Asian pasta._ Ludwig scoffed at his thought. The taste of the ramen was better than he expected. He thought about bringing Feliciana to the place during the weekends or so. However, he needed to learn how to properly use chopsticks. He was embarrassed that he was struggling to use chopstick while having someone who’s perfectly natural with chopsticks right across the table.

“Oh…” Kiku’s gentle smile turned apologetical. “It appears that I have left my phone in the restaurant. Would you mind going back to work without me?”

“I can go with you. It’s not a big deal.”

The japanese restaurant was only two blocks down and a block to the right. It wasn’t even a walking distance.

“You sure? You don’t have to Mr. Beilschmidt.”

“It’s the least I can do for a… friend.” Ludwig lifted his hand and scratched the back of his head. The word gave him slight embarrassment but he also felt flatter.  

Kiku smiled. “Here, how’s this? You can just wait right here, then I’ll be right back. The restaurant is very close so it wouldn't even take ten minutes.” He suggested.

“Alright. That could work.” Ludwig thought Kiku might had felt guilty that he could make Ludwig to take an unnecessary detour.

“ _Hai (yes)_. Then I’ll be right back.” The Japanese man didn’t waste a second. He turned his heels and sprinted back to the restaurant. Ludwig was surprised to see that Kiku could run that fast.

Ludwig thought it was humorous. He had always thought Kiku as a careful and disciplined man who never made any mistakes. _Well, I guess even Kiku forgets to pack his belongings for once._

Grasp—

Someone grabbed Ludwig’s arm. He immediately turned his face only to see the person who had hurt him the most in his life.

“Ludwig.”

Unlike the other times she approached to him, the brunette wasn’t smiling anymore. He was sure that she didn’t come to share small talks. He knew that looks of hers. She came here to warn. The brunette ditched the pleasantry. She already knew Ludwig wasn’t glad to see her after all.

“Have I not made myself clear the other day? I said I don’t want to see you.” Ludwig exclaimed.

The brunette paused. She looked hurt but she continued. “Listen to me. Some people are not who they think you are.”

“Who’re you talking about?”

“You know _who_.” Ludwig realized the brunette was talking about Feliciana. “I suppose spending time with her made you to lower your guard.”

 _Seriously? Are you questioning Feli?_ Ludwig spluttered. “Oh, I believe I know that person more than you do.” Even though it was _her_ , he couldn't suppress his bewilderment. Ludwig was sure that he knew about Feliciana more than anyone besides her family in Heaven. Yet, the brunette was warning him about her.

“Do you?” It wasn’t a question. It was an assurance.

Ludwig paused. “You know about her, don’t you?” _And possibly even more_. He stunned. He was nervous about how she found out about Feliciana nor how far she already knew.

“Let’s talk about last night: you flipped when you thought she was lying to you.”

“How did you—."

“You know who I am. I see everything about you. Can you really not see that _someone_ is infecting your mind?” The brunette interrupted. Ludwig couldn’t answer.

“Stop ignoring me, Ludwig. Before everything goes down to hell.” The brunette avoided the answer but Ludwig knew there were more to it than Feliciana’s existence and reason of the brunette’s appearance. She glared at him for the first time since they had met again. Despite the ferocity in her eyes, there were hints of genuine concerns for him in her voice.  

“So that’s your plan? Threatening me?” Ludwig reciprocated, trying to calm his voice and tremble as much as possible.

“People who love each other don’t make threats.” Her voice and eyes were more determined than they ever did when she enunciated the last part of her sentence.

“We make promises.”

* * *

**(A/N)**

**So sorry it took me too long to update the chapter. College is really tough ;( and I wanted to extend the length of my chapters from now on! Many authors in Hetalian fics motivated me too! I decided that from now on, I’ll try to write each chapter to be 4500 - 5000 words.**

**Luddy kissed Feli! Yay! Though he has a lot to make up after what he did. :/**

**Gil and Lizzie met Feli! They both think Feli’s awesome! Well, who wouldn’t be when you thought your lonely brother was alone and single but he turned out to be taken by this pretty girl who can give him what he doesn't have! Right? ;)**

**Well, yeah… the tension between Ludwig and the brunette is getting tighter! Although her name and identity weren’t even revealed :P Someday it will!**

 


	5. Chapter 5

Kapitel 5.  


_We make promises._

What scared Ludwig the most wasn’t the fact that the brunette knew about Feliciana; it was her last sentence. It had lingered in his head wherever he went and whatever he did as if the sentence were constantly echoing in his head. A day had completely passed without him noticing. Not only he found himself barely functioning in his work and got scolded from his boss, but also he couldn’t remember how and when he got home from work. The elevator which Ludwig rode was escalating but the higher the elevator went, the more he felt that he was plunging down to earth. The train of thoughts was interrupted when the elevator reached at the floor Ludwig lived. The only thing he could do was to sigh and to walk out of the elevator.

If there was one thing that didn’t oppress Ludwig, it was Feliciana: an angel who perched on his shoulder. With her chirping “Welcome home, Luddy!” and the smile shined only for him, he thought— he knew, she would make everything to go away. However, Ludwig also knew that he had to plan for a proper apologize for what he had done to her last night.

In front of his apartment door, Ludwig stood with shivery hands. He had never felt this nervous in his life. He breathed in, and breathed out. His hands didn’t shiver anymore.

When Ludwig put his keys into the door, he heard laughs of at least three people and a faint smell of food in his apartment. He halted and placed his ear against the door. There were three voices. One of definitely from Feliciana; the other one was from a woman who had an accent which Ludwig couldn’t tell which; last one, he knew the owner of the voice far too well.

Ludwig clenched the doorknob hard enough that his knuckle was turning paler than white. _What the fuck is he doing here!_ There were three people in his living room chatting joyfully while eating a pizza. They accompanied with each other perfectly well. Smiles on their faces, cheerful tones of voices, giggles, and jokes. Feliciana was the first person Ludwig saw. She looked happier than ever. She always loved meeting new people. The other woman seemed to be Gilbert’s fiancée Elizabeta. He could vaguely remember her from the picture Gilbert sent. The last person he saw was Gilbert: one of the three of the last people who Ludwig wanted to see. Seeing him right in front of him in his house gave him disgust.

They didn’t noticed Ludwig until he stood near them. When he was close enough they noticed him and greeted individually. Among them, Gilbert was the first. He turned and faced his brother.

“ _Lange nicht gesehen (long time no see)_ , West.” He greeted his brother in their mother tongue. Despite his characteristic smirk, in his mind, he was afraid of how his brother would react: how _furious_ he was about to react.

Elizabeta was the second to react. “You’re Ludwig, right? Hi. Glad to finally see you, I’m Elizabeta.” She stood up from the couch and introduced herself. She reached out her hand warily, hoping Ludwig would reply her handshake.

“Ve? Luddy! Welcome home!” Lastly, Feliciana hugged and peck Ludwig’s cheek: her usual greeting. However, for once, she greeted him the wrong time. “Ve~ Gil bought us a pizza! Come and eat some!” She grabbed his hand with both of her hands and led him to the couch, but he shook her hands away discomfortantly.

 _You let Gilbert in house?_ Rage devoured Ludwig. _How dare you._ The blood in his veins flowed furiously. He had never been so livid. The anger of betrayal overwhelmed him like a tsunami devouring its victims. All the glad and expectation that Ludwig had thinking about Feliciana evaporated. Hatred, rage, ferocity, and betrayal filled his empty mind. “ _Gilbert_ , _what the fuck are you doing here_!” He exclaimed. Everyone stunned.

“You think you’d be welcome if you just barge into my house? Did you really think I’d be smiling and welcome you here?” Ludwig bawled. Within a second, everything in the living room changed. Feliciana was sitting with her knees pulled to her chest and quiver fearfully.

Elizabeta winced. “Calm down. Just listen to him for a min—”

“Give me a reason I should calm the fuck down when the person ”

Gilbert pulled Ludwig by the collar and pressed him against the wall. “Mind your tongue, Ludwig.”

Ludwig twisted Gilbert’s wrists and punched him across the face. With a wince, Gilbert fell down. Elizabeta tried to help him but he signed not to. “My house, my rules.” Ludwig straightened his collar and continued. “Now get the fuck out of my house. I won’t say it twice.”

Gilbert slowly got up and faced his brother. Ludwig thought he’d be glaring but there were disappointments in his eyes. He left the house wordlessly left the house and Elizabeta hesitantly followed her. After they left, Ludwig turned his head and glared at Feliciana. She flinched as she saw how he was glaring at her.

“Feliciana, you too. Get out of my house.” Ludwig pointed at the door, forcefully using her full name.

_I was mistaken. I should’ve kicked her out at the moment she crashed into my apartment._

“V—ve…? Luddy, but I don’t have anywhere to—”

Ludwig kicked the coffee table in front of the couch. Sliced of pizzas and broken glasses and plates were everywhere. Feliciana flinched.

“GET OUT! NOW! BEFORE I PULL YOU OUT OF HERE MYSELF!”

Feliciana ran out to the door with tears on her eyes. She had never been so frightened. She could not believe how much she was scared of Ludwig. He slammed the door ferociously.

_This is it. This is how it should have been done._

Ludwig fished out his phone and called someone. When he thought the receiver was not going to answer, the familiar voice with an accent took the call.

“ _Moshi moshi (Hello)_?”

“Kiku, do you have time for a drink?”

Kiku made a hesitant sound, but accepted. “Of course. Where do you want to meet?”

“I’ll text you the address.” Ludwig hung up and texted the bar’s address to Kiku. However, he didn’t feel any better. But it didn't matter. The only thing mattered was the way to extinguish the stress and anger.

The smiles and laughs in the living room are nowhere to be found.

* * *

SLAM—!

Feliciana knelt down as the door slammed shut behind her. There was nothing she could do besides to kneel down and cry. Unless her wings worked to deliver her to Heaven, she had nowhere to go. Nowhere to stay. _No one_ to wrap their arms around her and say that everything is going to be alright. _I wished everything went back to the way it did before…_ She wanted Ludwig to come out of the door and wrapped his arms around her and tell her that he was sorry to yell at her and he wanted her to stay.

However, Feliciana knew that will never happen. She saw how Ludwig was glaring at her. Although he raised his voice to her but he had never looked at her the way he just did. A glare full of disappointment, ferocity, and despise. Feliciana sobbed when she thought about how much hurt her. It felt like he had stabbed her heart repeatedly until it torn out to countless pieces which no one could recognize. Ludwig didn’t even laid a finger on her, but Feliciana wished that he had. _Getting hit must’ve been less painful than this…_

“Shhh, it’s okay, Feli.” Someone wrapped their arms around Feliciana and cooed. It relaxed her shudder but her tears flew more since she knew it wasn’t Ludwig. No one. _No one_ could made her to feel safe and happy like he did. However, she appreciated the care.

Elizabeta whipped her head to Gilbert. “I told you that this was a bad idea, Gilbert. Look what you’ve done!” Feliciana silently hugged back, sobbing in Elizabeta’s arms.

“I know, it’s just that I…” Gilbert clenched his eyes shut. He wished he hadn’t done it. He shouldn’t have broken into his brother’s house like that. Looking at the poor girl who was thrown out, the guilt of the consequences tore him apart. “I’m really sorry, Feli.”

While weeping, Feliciana shook her head and barely managed to answer. “Y—you only t—tried to put your family back together…”

Gilbert couldn't say anything. He blamed himself for putting Feliciana into their family’s mess. She didn’t deserve any of this. But because of him, she became the most injured casualty. He knew that his brother would be infuriated by him much before he planned his visit. However, Gilbert had no idea someone would be caught into the crossfire between him and his brother.

 _I should fix this. I will make everything right._ Gilbert swore in his thought.

* * *

“Thanks for the tip, Baby.”

A naked woman pecked Ludwig’s cheek before she crawled out of the king size hotel bed like a cat and stretched flirtatiously, revealing her sexy figure. The thickness of the roll of banknotes from him did make her to grin satisfyingly. She gathered her lingeries and provocative outfits on the floor blended naturally with Ludwig’s drenched and violated sex toys. Without a word, he glanced at her as she was making her auburn hair into a bun; they weren’t braided into two but her auburn was quite the similar auburn hair that he desired.

As soon as he arrived at the hotel, he threw her into the bed, took each other’s clothes off, used his toys, and pounded her like a sex-craving teenager. He didn’t know how long nor how many times they did it. The only thing he knew was that though his body was satisfied, but his mind was even more broken down.

It had been awhile since the last time Ludwig had sex. At least once a week he went to bars to find people with same _interest_ or he used an escort service. However, he didn’t feel the necessity of sex for the last couple weeks; he didn’t want to. Staying with Feliciana was everything he ever needed. Nothing, _no one_ could replace her.

The woman winced and caressed her wrists. “Phew! Could you loosen up the cuffs next time? I think my wrists are much sore than _elsewhere_.” She winked and displayed her ass while slowly wearing her lingeries as a bonus. Ludwig was still silent.

“Who’s this ‘Feli’, by the way? You moaned her name a lot. Your crush? Someone’s wife?”

“None of your fucking business.” First time Ludwig replied to her after their fervent coitus.

The woman shrugged off. She didn’t need to know after all. “Call me whenever you need me again, alright?” She made a call-me sign to Ludwig before leaving the hotel room with satisfaction. He just stared at the ceiling.

* * *

Feliciana lied on the bed motionlessly with eyes full of tears. That was everything that she did during the whole week. She was lost. However, she sincerely thanked Gilbert and Elizabeta for letting her to stay in the guest room when she told them she didn’t have anywhere to go. The guest room was mainly for Gilbert’s father who visited occasionally after he became sober or Elizabeta’s parents whenever they came to New York. The couple told her that none of their parents would be visiting for awhile so she could stay here as long as she wanted.

Only _one_ word echoed in Feliciana’s head: a name. Who she missed desperately.

_Luddy… Luddy… Luddy…_

No matter how desperately and wholeheartedly Feliciana called his name, Ludwig wasn’t there for her. He was too far from her.

Knock— knock—

“Ve… it’s opened.” Without looking at the door, Feliciana answered timidly.

Elizabeta slightly opened the door and peeked in. “May I come in?” She asked softly; her eyes were full of compassion and sympathy. “I brought you something to eat. Hope you like Hungarian food.” With a smile she put down the wooden tray of bowl of házi húsleves and few biscuits on the bed and sat right next to Feliciana.

“Thank you…” Feliciana whispered.

“How are you doing, Feli?” Elizabeta fiddled Feliciana’s hair and asked. It hurt her to see Feliciana like this. Even though Elizabeta only saw Feliciana’s bright side only for few hours when they first met, she was truly enchanted; she was surprised to see how one’s smile could be so… pure, bright, and warm. Now Feliciana was abandoned and heartbroken. It broke Elizabeta’s heart. She could do anything to make her smile again.

Feliciana never got out of her bed since she arrived at Gilbert and Elizabeta’s home. Everything she did was holding Ludwig’s dress shirt and crying. She ate minimum amounts of foods which Elizabeta cooked for her because she didn’t want to refuse someone’s help and care.

“I miss Luddy.” Feliciana weeped. “Ve, I—I’ve only seen him for few weeks but I want to be with him! I wish Luddy was here. Do you think Luddy’s doing okay? Do you think he’s eating nice dinner everyday? Do you think he’s not… he’s not alone?” Whether Ludwig was alone or not worried her the most.

“Ve… no one there for him before I crashed into his apartment! A—and I… I…”

Feliciana couldn’t continue. She squeezed her arms around Ludwig’s dress shirt and started to sob frantically. Everything Elizabeta could do was to pat her shoulders. There was nothing that came out of her head that she could say something to her. She had never met anyone who could sob so poignantly.

Elizabeta gritted her teeth silently and spat at Ludwig in her thought. _You got some fucking balls kicking away someone who loves and cares for you this much, cunt. You were even worse than I thought. Though you shouted and kicked Feli out, but she’s only thinking about you._. She was beyond livid. Only handful of time in her entire life that anyone had made her to reach the point where she wanted to murder that person. She wanted to make Ludwig to realize what a grave mistake he made when she stormed into Ludwig’s house and beat him to death.

Elizabeta wondered what Feliciana meant by “crashed into his apartment”, but she knew this wasn’t the right time to ask.

“I’ll be in the living room if you need me.” Seeing how lamently Feliciana cried, Elizabeta got up she wanted to give her some time alone.

“Ve… Lizzie…?”

“Yes, sweetie?” Elizabeta turned around and asked.

“Could you… could you stay here with me? Until I fall asleep?” Feliciana asked wholeheartedly.

Elizabeta sat on the bed again and caressed Feliciana’s head with a warm smile. “Of course, I can.” _I can’t say “no” to a face like that._ She thought and slid herself into the bed. Immediately, Feliciana wrapped her arms around the bed’s newcomer and nuzzled her face in her chest. Elizabeta was taken off for a bit, but soon she smiled and embraced her into her arms.

“Don’t worry, Feli. It’s gonna be okay.”  

* * *

“ _I said keep them coming_!”

Slamming his wooden tankard on the bar, Ludwig shouted at the closest bartender. Couple of guests shot their glances at him in shock but he didn’t care. Two weeks had passed since Ludwig had permanently kicked Feliciana out of his apartment. He thought that he should feel liberated. Getting rid of the burden he wanted to. However, he was slowly dying on the inside. Like the plant that didn’t get any sunlight.

Ludwig looked dreadful. His normal sleek hair was a mess, his clothes were wrinkled, he hadn’t shaved, and his eyes were red with fatigue.

After the other night when Ludwig called for an escort service for the first time after Feliciana crashed into his apartment, everytime he called them he specifically requested for cute girls with auburn hairs. No one had to tell him that this wasn’t the way to think about or erase Feliciana out of his mind… and heart. But drinking and whoring were only two ways he knew how to cope with the pain.

The bartender wordlessly took Ludwig’s pitcher and brought a pitcher full of German beer to him. When he was sure that Ludwig wasn’t looking, he discreetly eyed him with disgust but pitiful look. _Poor bastard._ He muttered in his mind. But who was he kidding? He didn’t give shit about his guest’s sobriety as far as he could tell. In fact, the only thing that interested him right now was that this pathetic blonde was giving him heavy tips every time he ordered his drinks.

Last night, Ludwig even had a dream about Feliciana: he woke up from his bed feeling relaxed than ever and she was greeting him a “good morning”. He wanted to find her but after what he had done to her, he didn’t have the right. At this moment Feliciana could be living in someone else’s house cooking dinners, hugging, kissing, and sleeping in the same bed.

_No…_

Ludwig rolled on fists. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want her to be with anyone else. Subconsciously, Ludwig grasped his chest: his heart.

_Ve~ I think your heart is starting to get warmer._

When the familiar voice whispered in his ears, Ludwig lifted the wooden tankard.

“Stop.”

Half of the beer splashed all over Ludwig’s jacket when someone grasped his arm and forced him to land the wooden tankard on the table. When his arm was forced down, he accidentally knocked down the pitcher, spoiling the beer everywhere.

“Fuck…”

“You had more than enough.” The brunette handed more napkins to Ludwig.

Swiping down the stains on his jacket with the napkins, Ludwig scoffed. “Why do you care? You don’t have any jurisdictions on me anymore.”

The brunette shrugged. “But I can still worry about you.” She realized something. “Feli isn’t with you.”

“I kicked that person outta my life you said. Sounds good, right?” Ludwig spat in sarcasm. He avoided talking about Feliciana. He didn’t even use her name but it hurt him nonetheless.

“You’re drinking just like your father.” The brunette coldly accused. Her blue eyes shot fire. She realized she couldn’t stop Ludwig by going softly anymore. Both Ludwig and the brunette knew that no matter how much Ludwig liked drinking beer, he never drank to the point to get himself drunk. He despised drunk like his father, who became an alcoholic since the incident.

“Don’t worry. I never get drunk, _Adelheid_.” Ludwig reciprocated as equally as cold and emphasized her full name. It was the first time in his life he had used her full name. “Never have and never will.” As he thought, Adelheid winced; she looked hurt. Nonetheless, she revealed the reason why she reappeared to him.

“I want to help you.”

Ludwig shook his head. “That’s not an answer. You shouldn’t be _here_ . You should not be in front of _me_!”

“There’s a long story behind this.”

“Sure there is.” Ludwig scoffed. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Nothing can stop you from showing up in front of me, I think.”

Adelheid silenced. She was contemplating: she was conflicting to tell Ludwig about this or not. However, she decided that this was necessary. “You know? I’ll answer one question you want if you promise me to do one thing.”

“ _Ja, sicher. Was ist es (Yeah, sure. What is it)_?”

“Don’t ignore or avoid the next person who’s going to enter this bar.”

Ludwig sighed but nodded. That wasn’t such a hard request after all. “So why are you keep appearing in front of me?”

“I’m the part of you who wants you to be happy. Why else would I be here?”

It was a vague answer but Ludwig couldn’t talk back. He knew that was true more than anyone. He shut his eyes tightly to fight himself from shedding tears.

“But you left me… _us_. All of us.”

Adelheid placed her hand on Ludwig’s. “I never chose to leave you, Ludwig. Can’t you see? I love you.” The warmth of her hand same warmth as Feliciana’s but it had different color. Ludwig turned his face to see her but she was gone. Like she was never there. Only thing she left was her warmth. The warmth which Ludwig could make a small smile.

His smile suddenly turned into a glower when Ludwig saw “The next person who entered the bar”. _Verdammt (Damnit). Is this what you meant?_ Ludwig grilled at the Brunette in his thought. “The next person” was someone beyond familiar. He was a tall man with captivating silver hair and blood-like red eyes.

Gilbert grinned. “Sup, West?”

“What the fuck are you all doing here?” Ludwig grumbled. “You know what? Fuck this. Have fun. I’m leaving.” He got up from his bar stool, but Gilbert pressed his shoulders and sat him down. Gilbert wasn’t physically more inclined compared to his brother, but he _was_ strong. Though his brother was heavy with all hif muscles and size, it wasn’t hard to sit a drunken man down.

“Aww, c’mon, West. Have a drink with me while enjoying this bro-to-bro time.” Gilbert whined, knowing that his brother didn’t have any choice when his hands on his brother’s shoulders. “And~ if I get drunk as much as you, I might accidentally slip some _valuable_ info about the little _angel_ you’re drinking to.” He whispered mischievously like the devil who was alluring poor souls into his absurd contract which had zero escape.

“Feli’s with you?” Ludwig had never felt so relieved and worried all at once.

Gilbert did know how to play his brother. “Maybe she is, maybe she isn’t. There’s only one way to find out.”

 _Jesus Christ._ “FINE!” More than half of the guests looked at the German brothers when Ludwig bawled. After all, he made a promise with the brunette.

“Awesome! By the way, the drink’s on you.” Gilbert smirked.

He was truly the devil.

Ludwig genuinely contemplated about punching Gilbert in the face. However, at this point he was beyond exhausted to be enraged. If he got angrier even for a tiny bit, his body was actually going to explode into thousands of pieces like the Berlin wall. The only option he had was to order another pitcher with a sigh. He shot a death glare to Gilbert —who didn’t give a fuck— when the bartender brought him another pitcher full of German beer and an extra wooden tankard without forgetting to take his money.

Gilbert poured the beer and raised his wooden tankard. “Cheers!”

Of course, Ludwig ignored him. He hoped that it ignored Gilbert in any way, but Gilbert just shrugged like he was expecting this. He drank the whole tankard of beer at once and told his brother. “Feli’s in my house, crying every day and night because of you.”

Before Ludwig could realize what he did, he jolted up from the bar stool. However, Gilbert pressed his shoulder and sat him down— _again_.

“Ah—ah—ah. _Nein_. You’re too drunk to go see her.”

Ludwig groaned but he felt tipsy. “I’m not fucking drunk!” However, as much as he wanted to run into Feliciana, he knew that he needed to do this the right way and right timing. He stopped resisting.

“Despite you acted like a total piece of shit and you don’t deserve her for next trillion years, she still cares about you. And I want both of you to be happy.” He continued. “So here’s my condition: get your life straight, clean your stinky ass off, prepared to _beg_ on your knees and lick her feet —he ignored his brother’s wince— for an apology, and most of all—”

Ludwig raised his eyebrow.

“Do not push her away this time. It’s a sin if you don’t reply when someone reaches out to you.” Gilbert was more serious than ever. Although he addressed to Feliciana, it was something he dearly hoped from his brother as well.

“… _Danke_.” Ludwig whispered. It was quiet. So quiet that Gilbert almost slipped it.  

Gilbert shrugged, pouring another beer in his wooden tankard. No conversations were shared between the brothers but they didn’t need any. Wordlessly sitting and drinking together somehow made a crack on the wall between them. Today wasn’t the day to mend their relationship. There would be much to work out between the two: more conversations to share and more time to spend together. However, this was a good first step.

“Gil, I have something to say.” After a long silence and few more tankards of beer, Ludwig spoke.

Gilbert raised his eyebrow. In his mind he wanted his brother to call him “ _Bruder_ ” but getting called by his nickname was always better than getting called by his full name. “What is it~?” He asked, imagining hopeful confession such as “I’m in love with Feli.” because as far as he could tell, his brother wasn’t type of the guy who’d say anything close to “love” to anyone. He grinned as he thought the confession was related to Feliciana. However, it was very different from what Gilbert had in mind.

“I met _her_.” Ludwig confessed.

Gilbert paled. All the blood drained out from him and his heart stopped. He prayed to God that the woman his brother referred wasn’t the woman who he thought she was. It was impossible. He swallowed, hoping that his brother was referring to someone else. Anyone but _her_ . Yet right now, his legendary powers of observations were _screaming_ that his brother was referring to _die Frau (the woman)_.

“Who?” Gilbert had to ask: he had to know that his brother was talking about someone else. But perfectly knowing that his brother wasn’t type of person who’d make joke or talk nonsense when he was drunk, he clenched the bar table in fear.

The brothers’ eyes met. When Gilbert looked into his brother’s eyes, chills ran up and down his waist to his neck. There were nothing but truth and sanity.

“You know who.” His brother confirmed.

_This is bad… So bad…_

“But that’s impossible…”

“Is it?” Ludwig reciprocated.

The brothers thought about _die Frau_ : Adelheid. The beautiful woman with brunette like the beautiful mane of a stallion and gleaming blue eyes deeper than the pacific ocean. The woman he loved as much as his brother did. The woman who didn’t exist in this world anymore.

“But… she died years ago.”

* * *

Elizabeta’s eyes fluttered open. Judging by glimpse of the night sky through the curtain, midnight had just passed. She tried to lean up but Feliciana was still sleeping with her arms around Elizabeta’s waist. She didn’t want to wake up the poor little girl so she leaned down again.

 _Huh…?_ Elizabeta saw something white between Feliciana and her clothes she was wearing.

“Jesus!” Elizabeta gasped.

There was a pair of wings on Feliciana’s back. Elizabeta rubbed her eyes over and over again to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. At the tenth trial, she had to admit that Feliciana’s wings were real.

_She was an angel…?_

Elizabeta’s chain of thoughts was interrupted when she heard the doorbell. She hesitated; _millions_ of questions circled in her head, but she got up from the bed.

When Elizabeta looked through the peephole, her jaw dropped. There were two visitors standing excitingly: A blonde and a brunette. _Are you fucking kidding me? Today out of all day?_ She knew far too well that she couldn’t let them linger, even if she did, they’d find their ways to let themselves in.

Elizabeta snapped the door open and hissed. “What the hell are you guys doing here!”

“ _Salut, chérie_.” The blonde with slight beard and blue eyes was a French with nice slim body. He ignored Elizabeta’s _shining-welcome_ and waved his hand elegantly.

The tousled brunette was a considerably built and tanned Spaniard. His green eyes gleamed and showed how excited he was. He carefreely greeted as Elizabeta opened the door as well. “ _Hola_ , Lizzie!”

“You see, we wanted to go out for some drinks today but Gil didn’t answer our phones! So Antoine and I came to see whether you lovebirds were too _occupied_ in your bedroom.” Francis winked mischievously.

Elizabeta had no choice but to push Francis and Antonio out of her house. The boys were caught off guards. There were times when she was reluctant to let them in but all of them were friends. Never in their lives she had pushed them out of her and Gilbert’s house; not with seriousness. The boys asked at the same time.

“Are you okay, _ma chérie_?”

“What’s going on, Lizzie?”

Elizabeta was practically sweating. Never in her life she had a dilemma like this.

However, looking at the concerned looks of Francis and Antonio with guilt, Elizabeta decided to explain. Her lips moved faster than a machine gun. “Okay, listen. I’m sorry to push you away, but you two are the last of _last_ people I need to deal with right now. I’ve just encountered something beyond ineffable that I need more than God-knows-how-many answers for it right now. So please, for the last time, get out or at least come back later—”

“Ve… Lizzie? Who are they?”

 _Oh, fuck…_ Elizabeta grunted in her thoughts.

Feliciana yawned and rubbed her eyes. She was timidly walking out of her room.

“Feli…?” Antonio muttered in shock.

Feliciana blinked. “Big brother Tonio?”

“You two know each other?” Elizabeta exclaimed.

Antonio saw Feliciana with disbelief. For a second, he even considered the absurd possibility that she wasn’t Feliciana he knew; she might be someone who looked remarkably similar to his lover’s sister in Heaven. However, the girl in front of him had a gleaming halo.

The sign which only angels could see among each other.

* * *

**(A/N)**

**Phew! I hope my update wasn’t too late.**

**Well, at least the brunette’s name is revealed! That’s a nice start for her identity, right? And... the fact that she might be a _ghost_ ;) I promise you that there will be ** **_more_ ** **plot twists. I dearly hope the twists don’t seem them as too out-of-the-blue and you guy would find them fascinating. :)**

**Grand appearance of the rest of BTT members, yay! And Toni turned out to be an angel as well!**

**Reviews are always cherished and welcomed! And of course, they’re the best motivations :)**

 


	6. Chapter 6

Kapitel 6.  
  


“I didn’t expect to see you like this.” Antonio murmured. Although he was more worried than happy, deep inside his mind, he was happy to see Feliciana. She was his second-most missed angel of his after all.

“How you’ve been doing?” Antonio carefully asked. This wasn’t the first question popped-up in his head. There were too many questions he wanted the answers with, but he worried about Feliciana. Though they weren’t related, she had been baby sister he never had. If Feliciana was in human world, there must’ve been a reason why. Therefore, Antonio told Elizabeta and Francis that he hadn’t seen Feliciana for a long time and they needed to catch up. They —especially Elizabeta she almost fainted when Antonio said Feli and he knew each other since they were young, though he couldn’t point out the reason why.  _ Was it that surprising? _ — were suspicious but they made them cups of tea and gave a personal space to talk. 

“Ve… I’ve been alright. I guess.” Feliciana muttered with a tired shrug. Her fingers wrapped slowly around the mug of warm tea Elizabeta made for her. She was very surprised and happy to see Antonio as well but she didn’t have it in her to cheerfully greet him right now. If the circumstance that she was brought up was different she would’ve already jumped onto him and gave him a big hug with her greet full of joy. 

Feliciana didn’t tell anyone about this not even Ludwig, but deep down she always had been lonely and scared and missed her family. _ Luddy… _ Suddenly it felt like someone was squeezing her heart with their icy cold hands. Her heart was aching and freezing at the same time. 

Ludwig had no idea, but when she was living with Ludwig she cried alone whenever he was at work. No matter how much she wanted to cry in front of him and get comforted by him, Feliciana decided that she shouldn’t because she always had suspected that Ludwig had scars: he was hurt more than anyone. Therefore, Feliciana slid into Ludwig’s bed every night instead of whining for his affection.

Although, Ludwig didn’t coo her with comforting words like she wanted him to whenever he woke up and found her in his bed, just by feeling the warmth of Ludwig’s strong arms, muscular chest, and mostly his heart which got warmer everyday, Feliciana felt like she had everything she could ever need; she was happy. If anyone had asked her what was the happiest and saddest thing that happened to her life, she’d answer it was meeting a boy on a hill, but now she’d answer it was crashing onto Ludwig’s apartment. 

Meeting Antonio made Feliciana to recall about her family, she smiled— for the first time for a while. “Oh, the last time I saw them, Lovi missed you very much! Ve… but I don’t think she’ll ever admit it. And Grandpa wanted to see you too!” 

Antonio kept silence about what he was thinking of Feliciana right now, but he  _ knew _ little Feli. It wasn’t hard to tell that Feliciana was on the burge to spill her tears. The first thing everyone would image when they think about Feliciana would be her beaming smile. Her smile was highly praised even among archangels. It was brighter than the sun and more beautiful than garden full of flowers. What Feliciana had on her face was an invisible mask to hide her sadness. He suspected that there was something going on with Feliciana, but looking at how sad she was, he couldn’t bring it up. 

“Eheheh, I thought so too.” Antonio chuckled and smiled reminiscently. There was something obviously wrong with Feliciana but he decided that he could talk about it later. He focused about the joyful moments that he cherished with the Vargas angels. “I really miss Lovi as well. Can’t believe more than an year had passed since the last I’ve visited.” 

Antonio was an angel who volunteered to be assigned to an individual seventeen years ago. Feliciana was supposed to be assigned. Prior to her assignment, she traveled around human world with her grandfather seventeen years ago. She became to be fond of it, but at the end of her third week she told her grandfather that she didn’t want to stay on the human world. Although Feliciana told everyone that she wanted to stay near her family but everyone including Antonio knew there were more to it. They were desperate to know what it was but they decided not to pry:  they could not pry —just like Antonio couldn't pry now— when they saw how Feliciana cried every time they asked her. 

In the end, Antonio volunteered instead of Feliciana although he couldn’t say there wasn’t any plan or effort to impress Lovina. Since then, he had been dwelling back and forth between the human world and Heaven. He immediately regretted his choice as soon as his foot touched the human world. It wasn’t happy. Most of the humans were selfish and evil. They didn’t cherish the nature, they always lied to each other, hurt each other, and in extreme cases, they even killed each other.

Antonio’s first impression when he met Gilbert was quite disappointing. The only good thing he saw in his  _ job _ was nothing but his peculiar yet fascinating appearance: _ Well, at least he’s guapo (handsome)  _ was what he had originally thought. Not only he was attractive as a celestial-being, but Antonio had never seen anyone who could perfectly blend in with silver hair and blood-like red eyes, although he was creeped out when he saw them.

However, not even a month, Antonio started to realize what they meant to him and appreciated and cherished the unbreakable friend… no, familyship that he had build with Gilbert, Francis, and later on with Elizabeta too. Absolutely, there was no doubt that he could call them and love them like his his own family. 

_ But I guess they sent you here after all. _ Antonio thought. “So, who do you need to watch out for?” He assumed that this wouldn’t be a sensitive question. Plus, as a senior of not only from age but also from his career, if Feliciana had obstacles from her work, he’d be more than content to help her out.

However, Feliciana’s reaction was something that he did not expect. “V—ve…?” She confusedly blinked and faltered like she didn’t know what Antonio was talking about. 

Antonio stunned. What he asked Feliciana was the basic of the basic. “You’re here because you need to clear the clouds away from their lives and guide them to the right places, right?” He thought of an idea which maybe he should’ve asked a detailed question since this was her first mission she had gotten from Heaven. 

“Do… do I…? Ve… I didn’t know.” Feliciana winced and stuttered. 

“Huh? Weren’t you assigned to watch out for a person?”

Feliciana weeped and shook her head. Confusion was added on her sad expression. “Ve… I don’t know the reason why I’m here. I can’t remember anything! The last thing I remember is I was crashing into Luddy’s apartment!”

“Now, now. It’s okay, Feli. I can help you. Just… tell me the whole story from the beginning, ¿ _ vale (okay) _ ?” Antonio cooed and pull Feliciana into his arms for a hug. He continued to coo and patted her back to sooth her cry. However, he was as equally as confused. When she soothed, Antonio asked. “Do you remember the first human you met? Was it this ‘Luddy’?” 

_ Luddy… _ Feliciana gasped. It was painful enough to think of him. But she nodded. “ _ Sì _ … I call him Luddy but he’s name is Ludwig.” 

Antonio’s eyes widened. “Ludwig? Ludwig Beilschmidt? Gil’s  _ hermano _ ? Wait… is that why you’re here? Because you know Gil and Lizzie?” 

Feliciana slowly nodded.

Antonio couldn’t believe that he didn’t even wonder how Feliciana ended up in Gilbert and Elizabeta’s house.  _ Of course! How could I be so stupid? Though Gil and Lizzie are nice people but no one would just give a room in their house to a random stranger. _ Of course, he had been curious why no angel was assigned for Ludwig. As far as he could tell, he needed more help than Gilbert. 

_ But why Feli? _

As far as Antonio knew, Feliciana was the last angel who’d want to come to the human world.  _ Sí _ , he agreed that she’d excel on easing the grief of hurt humans and bring them joy but she had more chances which she could come to the human world. There were much to discuss but first thing’s first. 

“Feli, could you show me your wings?”

“Ve? Buy why?”

Antonio stood up and spread his glowing white wings. Feliciana gasped; she was enchanted. It only had been a month but Feliciana thought it had been forever since the last time she saw a pair of angel’s wings. From their stunning beauty, she gazed them with daze. Until Antonio relieved her from it by folding them away. 

“Our wings are our sources of our powers. They’re not just a symbol of an angel, they make us who we are.” but Antonio answered differently in his mind.  _ I have to check if I’m right. _

Feliciana spread her wings as well. Hers were beautiful as well. However, their beauty was nowhere near Antonio’s. Similar to compare a sparrow to a swan. They were short for starters. While he had wings that were bigger than his height, hers barely passed her arm’s length. In addition, Feliciana’s wings weren’t glowing like Antonio’s. They were plain.

“Oh my God…” Antonio covered his mouth. “What happened? Did someone hurt you?” 

Feliciana cringed nervously. “What’re you talking about? What do you mean who hurt me? Ve… no one hurt me!” She avoided but couldn’t help herself but thinking of Ludwig and her last dinner with him… she remembered as if it happened right now. How horribly it went, how much Ludwig has scared her, and how everything went south since that night.

“Your wings… they shouldn’t be so small like this. Yours should be like mine!”

“Ve…?”

Antonio explained, “Since our wings doesn’t exist as a physical form. It can also reveal our conditions. You know how human’s face turns red when they’re sick? It’s similar, but our wings tell much more. We don’t normally get injured but—”

“But…?” asked Feliciana. 

_ This is the only one way to explain this. But what if she gets frightened? _ However, there was no other way. Hiding truth won’t do any good to Feliciana nor Ludwig. 

“Feli, listen to me. This is important.” 

Feeling the seriousness in Antonio’s voice, Feliciana agitated and swallowed as she felt the weight of what he was trying to tell her. 

“You still understand the importance of the maintaining the goods in the human world, right?” Antonio continued as Feliciana nodded. “Good, so you know that there are goods and bads in this world that coalescent each other.”

“Ve… humans have free will to live good or live bad.”

“Right.” Antonio continued. “However, sometimes the bads aren’t necessarily evil. Strong sorrowful emotions like loneliness, hurt from one another, or loss of loved ones are like that.

Antonio sadly smiled as Feliciana gasped. She always cared about someone else before her; even if they were completely unrelated to her.  _ We all love that about her _ . He muttered in his thought and continued. “But sometimes they could be stronger than evil. If this gets worse, the balance between the good and bad could collapse and chaos will reign to the human world. Therefore, in order to protect the balance and help the humans, Heaven sends  _ angeles _ like us are sent to help or comfort those who are in need and as an extension— spreading the goods into this world.” 

Feliciana fiddled her fingers nervously. “So am I here because I have to make Luddy happy?”

“I think so,” Antonio nodded. “However, well, unless they find it out themselves, we must  _ never _ reveal our true identities to humans.”

“Why?”

“When humans acknowledge the our existence… they become rather flamboyant target to—” Antonio gulped as he thought of the sinister existence. Despite never crossed path with them, he had been afraid of them. “To other celestial beings and  _ other _ beings.” 

“Ve?” Feliciana gasped. “T—then how could I not realize Gil was blessed by you?”

“Maybe because you’re new and you were so used to my blessing it became numb to you.”  _ And I guess it’s because you’re not well… _

“The thing is, humans cannot hurt us nor can we hurt them. Someone near Ludwig knows your existence and that someone must’ve had hurt you, the only ones who can do that is—” Antonio hesitated. The thought circled around in his head, but there was no way to state this information without scaring Feliciana. 

Her eyes moisturized as Feliciana trembled in fear. Although she had never met any of them, she had always been aware of their existence. Whenever, she asked for bedtime stories to her grandfather when she was young, sometimes he told about them. The beautiful creatures with human figures. Humans believe their presence would be extremely hideous but their beauties and charms were ineffable even to the great archangel Romulus Vargas.

Unlike angels they could appear and reveal themselves freely to the human, corrupted them, and take them with no penalties. There was only one specie who fitted the category of everything Antonio said and Feliciana knew. 

“A demon…” Feliciana’s voice shook from the fear of their existence. 

Antonio nodded and exhaled tiredly. “But question is: what does it want from Ludwig?” 

* * *

“Are you really not going to tell me your name?” The girl pouted. She crossed her arms and blowed her cheeks. 

I shook turned my head away from the girl. “Not a chance. What did I say before?” I discreetly grinned as I singlehandedly milked the moment. Secretly enjoying to see her cheeks enlarging themselves as she pout. I had no idea why but I loved teasing her and watching her whine. 

When we first me she eventually found her way back to her grandfather as she looked at the stars. Whatever it meant, she said they could communicate with each other by writing messages with the stars. Therefore, when sun began to fall, she found her way back to her grandfather, leaving pecks on my cheeks. No need to mention my cheeks got very red—  _ NEIN! What am I thinking! _ Without noticing I slapped myself. 

“Ve! But it’s been a week!”

Just like she whined, it had been a week since we met. The girl told me she wasn’t from here and she was looking around with her grandfather. She wanted to meet me here everyday. I would  _ never _ admit but I became to fond of meeting her. Her presence itself was comforting enough. It mended the wounds and soothed the pains I had to suffer after the… 

I shut my eyes and clenched my chest. Times passed but it still agonized my heart.

“W—what’s wrong?” The girl faltered. 

I cleared my throat to “Nothing! I’m fine, Fe…”  _ What was her name again? _ For whatever reason, I couldn't remember her name. “Hey, what was your—” Before I could finish, the girl put her small hand on my forehead. It was very soft and warm… I shrieked. “ _ I said I’m fine _ !”

“Waah! I’m sorry!” The girl knelt down and covered her face like an ostrich burying its face into the sand when its predator was spotted. 

I felt like a bully. Though it was completely unintentional, I was practically bullying her right now! 

“ _ T—tut mir leid _ .” I cleared my throat. However, I also wondered why did I scare her so much. We were almost the same height! Then I quickly scanned myself and her. Okay, not completely same size, but still! What made her so scared of me? 

The guilt combined with the friendship —sort of— I shared with the girl compelled me to tell her what happened. I took a deep breath before disclosing what I had in mind for weeks, making sure I was ready. 

“You… asked me why I… I was crying when we first met.” 

The girl’s eyes widened and her ears stood like a bunny. 

“Recently, I lost someone I cared about.” My voice cracked. “I don’t know what happend. It happened so fast b—but my  _ Vati _ …” it took me few deep breath to calm myself down. 

There were tears of sympathy on the girl’s eyes. She was calmer than ever, listening carefully to every word I said.

“He hates me. He said it’s all my fault! H—he shouted at me and hit me and I…!” I clenched my teeth and my chest, trying to hold my tears. The pain hurt me. It ripped me apart. My father hated me, my brother left with our uncle leaving me behind, and my— 

I couldn’t help it. I wrapped my arms around my chest and slumped down. I missed them. I missed them. Every time I close my eyes I could see them smiling, waving their arms at me, and telling me to come.

But I can’t. There was no one. Nothing. 

_ Why. Why was I still alive? I—if I didn’t make it that day I could’ve joined her. It wouldn’t have hurt this much. A—and I wish I had di—  _

A warm pair of arms wrapped around me and held me tight into her chest.

“Ve… it’s alright.” her coo chased away all the pain. “This way I can’t—” The girl closed her mouth but I knew what she wanted to say. 

_ I can’t see your tears like this. _

This time I replied the hug. Then I closed my eyes.

* * *

**( A / N )**

**I'm really sorry it took me this long ;( This chapter was seriously hard to write and it took me so long to write ;( Thank you so much for** **waiting!**

 


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